Opening notes:

With no more fanfare than this small piece, I officially say hello to this website as an author. Hi everyone. I'm Police Panda and this is my first story on this platform. Not my first story altogether, but my first story here. I hope you'll enjoy this and my future works, I hope I'll have fun here and most importantly I hope we all survive the remaining volumes of RWBY without having our hearts chewed up and spat out. Then again, it's RWBY. Who am I kidding. Oh well. Until the torture returns in some weeks, enjoy this little headcanon of mine. Some might say this is a bit ooc depending on how you personally interpret Raven's and Yang's characters. Since this story is set quite a while after volume 5, I decided to take some reasonable liberties with characterizations. After all, people do grow and change over time and growing and changing are the two big themes of this fanfic.

I hope you enjoy the read. If you liked it, make sure you don't ignore the ending notes. You might be interested in what I say there.

Baby Steps

by Police Panda

RWBY and the picture used for this story cover are not owned by me. I don't make any profit with this and I don't take credit for either items just mentioned. Merely the idea for this story's plot is my own.

Yang lounged in her bed with an opened novel in her lap. The brawler was in pain and exhausted, yet relieved and at rest despite her body's countless complaints. A mild autumn breeze flowed into the room through the open window - gentle and barely even there, like a soft goodnight kiss from a lover. The mental image put a soft smile on the blonde's tired, pale face. She knew all too well how these kinds of kisses felt like by now. A sigh. How she wished her beautiful partner could be here now to spend time with her. The days of having nothing to do except resting in bed and recovering had gotten boring pretty quickly. It was always a lot more bearable with her beloved keeping her company. Talking, playing cards, reading a book together, or simply just holding Blake as she snuggled quietly and ever so carefully into her side would always make these dull days of being broken and physically useless a whole world better. Not that Ruby, Weiss and the others didn't keep her company often enough, it was just a different thing with Blake. But alas, Yang was gonna have to make it through a few more days until the faunus returned.

After the war against Salem had ended with the wicked witch's defeat only eight days ago, Blake had practically hopped around on her toes like a nervous doe. She had desperately wanted to go back to Menagerie to check on her parents, yet kept herself from leaving to make sure her wounded partner was going to be okay. She hadn't wanted for Yang to feel abandoned again. Which is why it had come as the biggest surprise to everyone when none other than the fierce blonde herself had been the one to ultimately convince Blake to go. After their reunion at the embattled Haven Academy almost two years ago, they all had grown more. Rifts had been mended, questions answered, doubts overcome. In the depths of war and despair, peace had yet found a way to settle within team RWBY and given birth to newfound strength and resilience the girls hadn't even known to be capable of. Yang had slowly found her calm and new trust in the reestablished bond between herself and her partner, now girlfriend. She had learned to understand, that having to part ways for a while in some cases didn't mean farewell - it just meant see you later. But the little sun dragon sure hadn't been the only one, who had learned her lessons along the way.

The door to her room opened and the breeze picked up for just a moment, blowing some hair into Yang's face and keeping her from properly recognizing the entering figure. Just a second later, that same door was closed in a hurry and as Yang brushed her golden mane out of her eyes, she offered a warm smile to the pale, black-haired woman, who put a steaming cup on the nightstand before taking a seat on the chair next to the blonde's bed.

"Weiss made coffee earlier. I thought maybe you'd like some," Raven said in her trademark confident voice, but the way how she avoided keeping eye contact with her daughter and chose to look around in the room instead like she was seeing it for the first time spoke volumes to Yang about how uncertain her mother still was about being in her presence alone... and about a lot of other things, no doubt.

The Spring Maiden's path had been quite the trek these past couple of months. She had went from finally meeting her child face to face, to going right back to running away from her and her own fears, to finally turning back around for good and joining Ruby's party. Ironically, it had been none other than Taiyang Xiao Long, who had served as the major catalyst for this to happen. It hadn't taken long for him to find his ex on Patch after she had fled there following her emotional argument with Yang in the Spring Maiden's vault. After a long and thankfully very calm, but nonetheless heavy and serious talk, Raven had left the island a few days later feeling like an insecure, troubled teenager, who didn't know which way to go and where to even start looking for answers. She'd returned to Mistral to find her entire tribe slaughtered - Salem's payback for Raven having quite literally put her plans on ice, no doubt. What had followed then was a time Raven didn't like to remember, as much as it had helped make her decision.

Days and weeks of wandering the wilderness of Mistral by herself. A raging hurricane of questions, doubts, fears, grief and indescribable wrath tearing the woman's soul to shreds, bleeding and weakening her from the inside. It was during these lonely days of pain when she had remembered she'd felt a similar way before. A time almost two decades ago when she had first started running away. The time when she had abandoned her own daughter out of simple, selfish cowardice. To this day, Raven still couldn't tell exactly how many trees she had cut down, burned to ashes, incinerated with lightning or frozen and shattered in the fit of rage and self-loathing, that had followed the realization. But this had been it. This very night when almost an entire forest had been wiped out as the shattered moon of Remnant silently watched the Spring Maiden fall to pieces in a blaze of anger... this had been the point when Raven had made her choice. As she had laid there in the smoldering aftermath of her emotional outpour, tears in her eyes as she'd stared at the stars above, she had settled on a new resolve. At that point she still hadn't had any hope, that Salem could actually be defeated. But since her daughter really had decided to join Ozpin's impossible war against her, at least Raven was going to be there and dedicate herself to ensuring Yang would survive this insanity. After everything, guaranteeing Yang her life, she had concluded, was the very least she could do for her.

But of course, life was a tad more complex than this and things were barely ever quite so clean cut. This had been no exception. Yang's primary goal always had been and always will be to protect her family and all her loved ones with all her power. Raven had remembered that fact as she had begun tracking the group, having traded the convenient use of her semblance for more quality time to think and calm herself. She had come to the realization, that protecting Yang was inevitably going to mean she'd have to protect everyone else as well. She had realized she was about to get a lot more involved than she had ever wanted... and for the first time in forever, she had genuinely felt fine with that. The acceptance had only legitimized and solidified her resolve and ever since she had finally found and joined them in Atlas a couple of weeks after her breakdown, Raven had been nothing but an asset to the group. Her incredible skill and powers along with her knowledge and cunning had more than often saved the day and lives along with it. But that didn't mean everyone had been thrilled to welcome and accept her - Qrow and Yang least of all, to nobody's surprise. For all the things she had done before her change of heart, the burden certainly had been on her shoulders now to put in some herculean effort in order to earn herself back some of the trust she had so thoroughly betrayed and broken before. And she had tackled that head on, earning a lot of raised eyebrows and looks of disbelief in return. Nobody had really been quite so willing to believe, that the former bandit queen had just sort of changed her mind like that. Proof had been needed to chase away these doubts and proof had been what Raven had delivered, day after day without fail. The longer she stayed, the more helpful she'd proven to be, the more people had eventually warmed up to her until she had been able to truly consider herself accepted.

The task still wasn't finished until this day, the path to redemption still not completely walked yet. But she was genuinely trying and she was getting there, step by tiny step. For that alone, for the sincerity she had witnessed Raven express for so long now, Yang was grateful and had decided just about four months ago to begin expressing her gratitude by being supportive. She hadn't exactly forgiven her mother yet. But at least in Yang's eyes, Raven had done enough by now to have earned herself a real and honest shot at it. This didn't mean the corvid woman had any illusions about that chance and neither did her daughter. It was what it was: a chance - not a guarantee. Both were keenly aware there were things they still had to work out, still had to even address at all. There were risks and subliminal fears lurking in this unknown. One wrong move, a wrong word, an especially unpleasant revelation and the quietly glowing embers between them could potentially be disturbed and roar right back to life into a blazing wildfire. They both knew all too well they had the temper to make this risk a very dangerous reality, indeed. Which is why for now, they seemed to have silently agreed on taking all the time they needed to maneuver through this minefield. Time, thankfully, could be a very patient ally.

With the threat of Salem gone and Raven intent on sticking around for a good while longer, there really was no rush anymore. Nobody was at risk of suddenly winding up killed the next day. Nobody was going to suddenly turn around again and run off to wherever. For the moment, there was a subtle atmosphere of calm and safety lingering in the air between them, that neither of them wanted to break. These were unspoken thoughts and unvoiced feelings, but they were real and Yang trusted them... and somehow she just knew, that Raven did as well. They both understood they had all the time in the world to work through their conflict together as long as they remained on the same page of actually wanting to work through it. It was with this thought in mind, that the blonde chose to not push her mother into one of the many, many conversations they still needed to have. That coffee on the nightstand really did smell much like a cup of pure peace and relaxation, after all. She didn't want to ruin that by drinking it while having long talks about deeply rooted family issues with her returned runaway mom. She really didn't have the energy for it anyway, if she was being honest. Her aura was still busy healing her beaten body, which actually was a pretty exhausting ordeal considering the sheer amount of injuries Yang had suffered in that last battle against Salem and her minions. Nope. Coffee break now. Digging in uncomfortable pasts later. Baby steps. Once she went home to Patch, she was gonna have to thank her dad for having taught her to appreciate the meaning of that concept.

A bandaged hand emerged from under the duvet and grabbed the cup of coffee.

"Weiss really has the Schnee business gene. Always knowing what people need without them even saying a word," Yang contentedly hummed and took a deep, appreciative inhale of the smell wafting up from the cup of hot, dark heaven in her hand.

She looked at Raven through the corner of her tired eyes and gave her a small nod and smile as thanks for having brought her a cup, both of which were returned in kind by the retired bandit. The tiny gesture was enough to help Raven relax immediately. She deflated a bit and sat a little more comfortably on her chair as her nerves soothed and a good portion of the tension in her muscles visibly left her body. The blonde wondered for a second how long it had taken for her mother to work up the nerves to just come visit her in her room by herself. Not that it was the first time they were alone together, but ever since she'd joined the group, Raven had always been uncharacteristically skittish about the concept. In retrospect, Yang couldn't really blame her. For literal months after her mom's return, she had almost gone out of her way to make sure Raven understood exactly just how thrilled she was to have her there - and Yang hadn't been the only one. Sure, most of that aversion and aggression had been more than justified, but the brawler still flinched inwardly at the memory of some of the things she had said and done to her mom. Obviously, Raven wasn't the only one, who had her flaws and faults.

Some moments passed of Yang just sipping her coffee in relaxed silence before the peace was suddenly shattered by the noise of something having fallen and broken downstairs, followed by quick footsteps. The sounds of two voices, very familiar yet muffled thanks to the closed door, were soon added into the strange mix.

"Weiss, no! Don't touch me!"

"Ruby, it really wouldn't be the first time I've seen a woman's upper body naked."

"That's not making it better at all!"

"Would you just... Oh, for crying out loud! Stop being such a baby and let me take your shirt off!"

"Nope!"

"Ruby Rose!"

"NO!"

"What's going on with them?" the blonde asked, completely puzzled by what she had just heard, and turned to look at her mother to see if she had answers. Raven only shrugged, seemingly impassive and unimpressed as ever.

"After she finished making coffee, Weiss decided Ruby's chest bandages were overdue for a change. For whatever mysterious reason, your sister doesn't agree and her partner isn't having it. Evidently, the issue hasn't been dropped yet." The mild irritation and underlying sarcasm in her voice made it pretty clear, that Raven was obviously on Weiss' side with this.

"Ooohh..." Yang's eyes widened in realization... and she smirked. "I wonder when they'll finally stop tip-toeing around each other. It's getting almost sad," she chuckled with a shake of her head, clearly amused by the antics of her teammates.

"Well, considering the Schnee girl actually has a surprisingly solid backbone, I'm sure they at least won't take as long as you and Blake."

Yang choked on her coffee and almost spat it back out at that comment. She had not expected this kind of retort out of the blue. She fixed her mom with a look of bewildered speechlessness after she had managed to get her coughing under control, only to get nothing more than a smug smirk of superior sass in response from the older woman. It was a good sign, Yang had learned recently. Whenever Raven felt relaxed enough to tease someone, whatever conversation was going to follow would be more or less smooth sailing. If she pushed back a bit now in the same playful manner, it would only help Raven calm her nerves even more - an easy opportunity Yang wasn't going to pass up. That, and she would not be Yang Xiao Long if she allowed somebody, anybody, to sass her without sassing them right back.

"Oh yeah?" she challenged with a sparkle in her lilac eyes. "At least Blake and I didn't-"

"Yaaang! Help me!"

The loud wail of distress from her little sister caused Yang to instantly snap her attention back to the closed door, her retort for her mom forgotten in a second. Her big sister senses told her to get up and out of this bed to protect her precious baby sis. Only that A, walking was painful as hell in her current condition and B... she seriously enjoyed this type of Ruby's suffering way too much to help end it before it could get to the best parts. Yang could practically feel the little devil horns growing on her forehead. She grinned like the cheshire cat, a reply already on her tongue.

"Sorry there, sis! Really can't help ya right now!"

"What kind of big sis are you!?"

"Ruby, she literally has two broken legs. She can't exactly come running to your aid."

"Crap, you're right."

A short pause. Then...

"Raaaven!"

A pair of crimson eyes widened at the entirely unexpected call of her name. Raven snapped her gaze to her daughter, silently asking her to help find an excuse as she really didn't want to get mixed up in this pseudo lover's quarrel. But Yang could only uselessly shrug, her expression indicating she was equally baffled by Ruby asking for the help of her aunt, of all people.

'Good grief, god damn it!' Raven cursed frantically in her mind before she decided to just wing it.

"Sorry, Ruby! I... I'm busy helping Yang with something!"

"You traitor!"

The blonde flinched at the words the moment she heard them. She loved her sister more than she could say, but for god's sake! Sometimes she wished Ruby would think a bit more before opening her mouth to speak. The argument and commotion downstairs continued like nothing had just happened, but here in this room the air suddenly felt like a heavy weight only waiting to crush the first thing it could. Amethyst orbs carefully observed the tall woman on the chair next to the bed. With just one little word, the tension was back full force. Raven sat rigid like a statue, one hand clasping her bicep, crimson eyes full of sorrow and shame staring at her lap like it was the most interesting thing in the world. One word. One tiny, little word and the demons were back in the forefront of her mind, clawing at her soul, latching onto her heart, dragging her down.

"You know she's not serious... right?"

It were the gentle, imploring words of the younger woman in the room, that kept the Spring Maiden anchored in the here and now. But even so... the memories and remorse were back now and it clearly looked like they weren't gonna leave her alone that easily.

"Well, I suppose, but..." Raven shrugged weakly. "Given the fact it's me she just referred to, she really isn't actually wrong."

"Alright," Yang sighed with an edge of finality in her voice as she put her coffee back on the nightstand and sat up properly. So much for just enjoying the peace of the afternoon and not having any deep, important talks for now. She reached out with her cybernetic arm and firmly grasped Raven's shoulder, immediately getting her mother's attention.

"Mom. Stop."

Raven's gaze locked with Yang's and she raised a brow in slight confusion.

"Stop?"

"Yes. Stop. That thing you're doing, all that brooding and punishing yourself over the past and who you were. You need to stop doing that or it'll eat you up."

When no immediate response aside from a thoughtful look in her eyes came from her mother, the blonde decided to push on. She heaved a heavy sigh through her nose, already feeling sorry for what she was about to say, but it needed to be said. Sometimes, the truth could hurt. But it would always help tear down walls to reveal new, better paths. Raven had been a little too hung up for a little too long now. It was time someone gave her a push in the right direction, at least if you asked Yang.

"No matter how much you wish you could, you can never take back what you did."

In an instant the shame in Raven's gaze became impossible to not see and she stared silently at the determined expression in Yang's eyes. The ex bandit eventually averted her gaze and went back to staring at her lap. However, the brawler wasn't finished. She couldn't stop just yet.

'Sorry about this, mom.'

"You can't undo your mistakes and you can't erase all the pain and hurt you caused," Yang went on without even a hint of hesitation in her voice, knowing Raven listened despite the lack of eye contact. "And I'm not only talking about us, but about everyone who was somehow on the receiving end of what you did. You've done... so many things so, so wrong. And you'll never be able to make any of this right again, no matter what you do."

At this point Raven was glad her daughter had chosen to touch her with her prosthetic hand instead of her other one. She was aware the cybernetic limb was able to simulate a basic sense of touch for its wearer, but it didn't come close to what actual skin could pick up on, which meant Yang was more than likely unable to feel how Raven's body ever so slightly trembled in response to the storm of emotions the blonde's words had just summoned within her. The sheer amount of willpower it took to keep her eyes from welling up and the lump in her throat small enough to not choke her couldn't even be put into words.

"But that's the past. And you're here now, along with all of us."

The shuddering stopped. Breathing became a little easier again. The invisible weight threatening to crush her ribcage got a bit lighter. The feeling of cool metal on her shoulder disappeared and was replaced with the sensation of a bandaged hand grabbing the clenched fist in her lap, opening it and enveloping her hand in a gentle, warm touch. Slowly, tentatively, Raven looked up and took in her child's now much kinder, softer expression. Unable to form any words just yet, the Spring Maiden just allowed Yang to finish saying whatever it was she wanted to say.

"You've been right there with us these last couple months and... you've protected us and helped in so many ways. You were always so scared of Salem and yet you came back, faced her and helped us make her history. I believe in all of that, in everything you did recently and in everything you're doing now. You're not done paying your dues, but you're on the right track here and everything that's still to come we can figure out. Together."

Yang tightened her grip on her mother's hand to emphasize her point and smiled when she felt the pressure being ever so carefully returned. The expression in the pools of crimson was still unreadable to the brawler. Raven looked like she was thinking deeply, but kept the exact nature of these thoughts a well guarded secret.

"We all know there was a time when you had fallen and you were the worst you could have been, but you have to let that go," Yang opted to continue after Raven remained silent. "Cause, you know... even when we fall and we land hard on our backs, at least that teaches us-"

"Which way we need to climb once we get back up on our feet."

The eyes of the young huntress widened in surprise when her mother interrupted her sentence and finished it in the exact way she had wanted to. Raven smiled at the expression on her child's face - not smirked or grinned. Smiled.

"I see your father taught you all the important lessons."

The audible softness and vulnerability was a rare occurrence to witness from the hardened woman, which is why Yang smiled right back at her mother, knowing she had pushed the buttons she had wanted to and gotten her message across.

"He's kinda good at the whole parenting thing," the blonde shrugged a bit awkwardly, not exactly sure what she should reply and just having opted to go with the first thing, that had come to mind. It was the truth, after all. And it did say a lot about how much Raven had grown and learned already, that she didn't see some sort of attack in that statement. She had already accepted, that even if Yang did call her 'mom', she would never actually be the girl's mother. As patient of an ally as time could be, it could also be a ruthless enemy. The concept of 'too late' was unfortunately a very real thing.

The pair sat in silence for a few seconds or minutes until Raven stood up from her chair, pulling her hand away from her daughter's in the process, and sat down on the floor instead. She rested her back against the side of the bed, one leg propped up and wrist resting on her knee as she allowed her head to fall back onto the edge of the mattress.

"It's not going to happen from one day to the next, you know," she sighed after some moments of pensive ceiling staring. "I can't just detach myself from who I was just like that. And I don't think I should, to be honest."

"Why?"

"Having some regrets can be a good thing. They remind you of where you don't want to go back to... But I suppose I really do have to let some of it go. Looking back never helped anyone go forward."

"Exactly."

She didn't know why this single word put her heart at ease like that. Maybe it was the fact, that she knew now without a doubt Yang would support her through this. Raven wasn't sure how close she actually was to earning her daughter's forgiveness, but having the certainty of no longer having to face all her demons by herself just made the chance so much more tangible, the spark of hope in her heart burn so much brighter. Safety, company, warmth. If she had known earlier how amazing it felt to feel at home, she would've never been enough of an idiot to throw the best shot she once had at it away.

"It'll be a process, that's all," she continued with a soft smile etched onto her face, placid eyes watching the colorful leaves fall outside the window. "I'll need some time for it. Changes like that don't just happen just like this."

"We have time." The gentle assurance was accompanied again by the familiar feeling of Yang's warm touch on her shoulder. "More than enough of it."

"We really do, don't we..."

And Raven closed her eyes, released an exhausted sigh of relief and allowed the silence to take over. When she opened her eyes again and saw lines of light pink and orange decorate the sky outside, she concluded she must have fallen asleep for a while. She groaned at the crick in her neck while she got up from the floor and just wanted to apologize to her daughter for having fallen asleep on her... only to see Yang was fast asleep herself. Sitting up with her back resting against the headboard and her head lolling to her side, the fierce and still very injured blonde had fallen asleep in what just couldn't be a comfortable position in Raven's eyes. She didn't want to wake Yang up by physically position, that wouldn't have her waking up aching all over. Luckily, she was the Spring Maiden. She had another option. The familiar pink flame ignited in both of her eyes and she felt the surge of immeasurable power rush through her entire being. Both arms extended towards her child, Raven used her levitation ability to carefully lift Yang up along with the duvet covering her and put her back down in a proper sleeping position. Yang didn't even so much as stir. Her mother could have probably floated her into an entirely different house and the blonde would've woken up none the wiser. With her mission accomplished, the corvid warrior walked up to the edge of the bed to pull the duvet a little more over her child's sleeping form. She indulged a sudden mood flaring up from deep within her and reached out with one hand, allowing the back of two of her fingers to softly carress the side of Yang's face. She smiled, warmer than she ever had before.

"Summer would be beyond proud of you," she whispered ever so softly, a sound only she would be able to hear.

"Thank you, Yang."

A few quiet steps and a soft clicking of a door later she was gone from the room to allow her daughter to get all the rest she needed. Yang smiled in her sleep, dreams of family and home and love putting her at rest and gifting her the most peaceful hours of sleep she had for months.

*End*

Ending notes:

I have a headcanon for Raven. I think that she isn't genuinely misguided about what she thinks and does. She knows exactly how scared she is of Salem and how much she loves Yang, but she allows the former to overpower the latter and she comes up with all this bull about strength and survival to make herself feel less like crap about her crappy life choices. This is actually a completely human thing to do. We all lie to ourselves or deceive ourselves at one point or another to make ourselves feel better about our mistakes. People who once cheated on their significant other probably know exactly what I'm talking about. We don't even need to get this specific. All of us have at one point probably had this kind of friend, who is just too proud to admit when they've done something wrong and would rather come up with the stupidest excuses to justify their actions instead of sitting down and saying sorry. Raven is kind of like that as far as I interpret her. She just takes this to a whole new level. For me, seeing it like that meant one important thing: I think Raven can be redeemed. So I took that idea, combined it with what canon teaches us about Raven's character (mainly that she's stubborn and extremely ambitious according to Tai, and that she's easily scared and vulnerable according to what she herself shows us) aaand here you go. My take of a Raven redemption story... kind of. The theme itself, as well as Raven's character as a whole, are interesting to me and I fully plan on writing some more ficlets based on Baby Steps, which will elaborate on different parts of Raven's road to redemption as I imagine it in a more show don't tell kind of way, with more in the moment emotions and less explainy exposition. Consider Baby Steps as sort of me demonstrating my view of what I think is possible and giving myself prompts to write more about this in the hopefully somewhat near future. I hope it wasn't too boring to bear with and I made it worth your while. If not, feel free to tell me what you didn't like so I can either learn or explain myself to you.

Notable inspirations:

"What to expect when your estranged daughter is expecting" by forgetspecifics (a fanfic on this platform)

"YAngsty" by NaitouRSE (the picture I used as this story's cover)

"Home" by Jeff Williams & Casey Lee Williams (RWBY Vol. 4 OST)

"All That Matters" by Jeff Williams & Casey Lee Williams (RWBY Vol. 5 OST)

"Call Of Silence" - Attack On Titan OST

"Breaking The Habit" - Linkin Park cover by Jonathan Young

Thank you for reading. See you next time.