Dandelion

Tai casts a worried glance over his shoulder as he steps out onto the back deck. He needs to take a moment to get out of the house. Get away from it all. He thought that he'd have given anything to have Yang and Ruby back at the house, but now that they were… It was too quiet. Too quiet for having his little girls around, and certainly too quiet for Yang and Ruby plus three friends. And Yang, his sunshine, lying in bed missing an arm and looking so defeated…

It's too much. And so here he is, outside, looking for… Something. He's not sure what. A way to fix Yang's arm? A way to rebuild Ruby's spirit? To bring her fallen friend back to life? He should talk to her later, he thinks. He knows a lot about dealing with fallen friends. Missing friends too.

He hasn't learned to deal with someone you care about running away, though. Maybe he should save talking about Blake for whenever he gets over it. Over her. Whenever that might be.

What is he supposed to do?

"Hey there, Tai."

Qrow leans against the railing, looking out at the sunset as it casts a rosy amber glow over the countryside. He doesn't bother turning to face his old partner, just takes another swig of the beer in his hand. There's an open cooler by his feet.

"Qrow?" His old friend turns to face him, motioning to the cooler. "I'm just getting some fresh air. And having some beer to go with it. Want some?" Taiyang steps forward. "Qrow, that is my beer. From my fridge. You don't take someone's beer without asking and then offer them a bottle of it."

Qrow just shrugs. "You weren't drinking it. Now sit down. Have a beer. It's good for you." "I hope you're not telling Ruby that." He sighs, because Tai knows that if Qrow's not telling Ruby these sorts of things then he's certainly telling Yang. But in the end he grabs a beer from the cooler, feeling icy against his hand, and leans against the railing. Neither of them speaks, just stares out at the field of blooming dandelions, little balls of white fluff blowing in the wind.

"Pretty." Says Qrow, and Taiyang ponders what caused the simmering anger behind every conversation he has with the man, but Qrow's expecting an answer, so he simply takes a pull of his beer and says "Yeah. It is."

The silence stretches on, and Tai feels the need to fill it in with something casual just to keep the conversation moving. What comes out is banal and saccharine. "It reminds me of love." Qrow scoffs and for the first time, turns to face Taiyang. "And why's that?" Taiyang pauses for a moment. "Well, like my family, the flower seems to… scatter, or dissipate or something like that. But it's kind of… A symbol… Y'know, for rebirth and stuff. Because next year that field will bloom again. And be twice as big as it was before. Like how a relationship gets stronger." He sighs and takes another swig. "Or something."

Qrow laughs out loud, and Tai glances over, irritated, but Qrow has a faint grin as he holds up his hands in a pacifying gesture. "I'm sorry, it just… It just reminded me of back at Beacon, in our first year? When we all had to give that presentation, and you-" "Taiyang cracks a smile at the memory. "Oh yeah, I remember that! Man, Summer was so pissed when I told her that-"

"-I dropped the cue cards."

"What?" Summer's silver eyes were wide as dinner plates. "But you need those. How did you-?"

"Boys and girls, if we could please settle down, Bartholomew of team GOLD will now give his presentation." All eyes turned to the front as Oobleck leapt to his feet, straightened his tie, took a swig of his ever-present flask of coffee, and then all eyes sank down to their desks and glazed over as he immediately jumped into a mile-a-minute account of some faraway war that nobody had ever heard of or cared about.

Well, except for Team STRQ, who were all fixed on Tai, Raven with a look of dull, unsurprised disappointment, Qrow with a mocking grin as he struggled not to laugh, and Summer with an expression of anguished rage that would have been comical if she hadn't been directing it at him. The young huntsman slumped in his seat and felt himself start to sweat.

"You moron." She hissed. "It's the day of our presentation! You know, the one we spent a week on? How could you mess this up?" Raven put an arm around her shoulder. "Summer, It's not like we expected Tai to actually hang onto the cards- by the way, nice job losing them, you walking screwup- but we had a backup plan, remember? I have a second set right here-" she reached into the satchel at her hip, then began to dig through it- "That I swear to God I had in my bag ten minutes ago."

Summer's rage grew more intense. "You lost the backup set? How could you- I don't- agh!" She grabbed her head in her hands and sank into her chair. Taiyang leaned back and flashed Raven a cocky grin. "Heh. Nice job, screwup." Raven rolled her eyes and flicked her hair back. "Oh shut up."

"Don't worry about it, we all have moments where we get a little birdbrained-"

"What did I say about the puns, you fu-"

Qrow tapped them both on the shoulder. "Guys, shut up. I have a plan, and we need to do it quickly since Oobleck's about halfway through his lecture-" "How can you tell?" Tai whispered. Qrow motioned to a blonde young woman in the front row, watching Oobleck with an unflinching gaze. "Ramona's starting to get pretty excited listening to him, but she's not quite at the stage where she has to stop herself from leaping into Barty's lap." Raven huffed. "I don't see why she bothers. Oobleck will only be around until she goes back to Mistral at the end of the Vytal Festival. And of all the possible catches in this class, he's far from the best one."

Qrow patted her on the back. "Thanks for the compliment, sis." The dark-haired Huntress shook her head. "Not you. I actually meant Tai." The blonde Hunter froze in his seat. "Raven, I'm not really sure how to-"

"-I mean, he seems like the kind of strapping, douchey chick magnet that girls like her are supposed to be into." She continued. Qrow made a low whistle. "Ouch. Anyway, I have a plan. I need you to keep the teacher distracted so I can pick the lock on the window, then let Raven fly back to the dorm where we have the rough draft of the study notes, and bring them here, along with some skin cream so Tai can treat that sick burn of his. Then all you have to do is stall until Summer can use her super-speed to get the notes to you. Sound good?" Raven shrugged. "It's kind of the only plan we have." Qrow grinned. "Then let's do it. Three, two, one, break-"

"-And in conclusion, that is how the war-wagons of the 2nd Vacuan Reformation War influenced the designs of today's armored fighting vehicles and the tactics used to deploy them." Oobleck stated, once more straightening his tie and taking a swig of coffee. The teacher sat up straight and cleared his throat. "Thank you Mr. Oobleck for your… Detailed presentation. Could we have a round of applause for Team GOLD please?" There was a general half-hearted tapping of hands on desks. Ramona clapped wildly.

"And with that generous show of support, can we please have Team STRQ's representative come up to the front." Mr Appleby said, motioning towards Tai and his friends.

"Oh no." Summer looked even more despondent. "No, you know what? This is fine, this is okay. I know the material. I'll just… Prompt you." Tai reeled back in shock. "You'll what!?"

"I hope I do not need to repeat myself, Mr. Xiao-Long…"

Qrow slapped him on the back. "You'll be fine. Well, no. You'll be absolutely terrible. But it'll be hilarious." Raven opened a small portal and reached in, producing a bag of popcorn. She opened it and tossed a kernel to Qrow. "I knew this would be good."

Taiyang muttered an obscenity and staggered to his feet. Summer put a hand on his arm. "You've got plenty of bravado. Use it. Just… Be passionate." Tai nodded mutely and stumbled down the staircase to the center of the room. "No notes, Taiyang?" Mr. Appleby said, raising a sardonic eyebrow. Taiyang nodded. "Um, yeah, I mean, yessir." Appleby pulled a fresh sheet of paper and readied his pen with an ominous click-click. "Very well… Begin."

Tai stepped up and took a deep breath. "U-um… Hiiii. Hi there, you guys." Summer glared daggers at him, Qrow had to clap his hands over his mouth, his shoulders shaking from laughter. Raven just grinned slyly and tossed a bit of popcorn into her mouth. "Anyway, I'm here to talk about the Faunus Rebellion in the… In the, ummm…"

He watched as Summer held up three fingers and began furiously tugging her ear. 'Okay. Third something or other. But what? Why is she tugging her ear- oh.' "In the Third Era! Taiyang announced, voice swelling with pride that dropped the moment he glanced over at Appleby, who looked distinctly unamused. "Uh, firstly root causes. Uh, most believe that systematic oppression of Faunus in Vale provided the fuel, but the catalyst for a revolt was high taxes and the… Wait, right, the execution of… Some Faunus guy. You know, from that old folk song? Anyone?" The students looked bored into a coma, except for Qrow, who was writing something furiously in his notebook, Summer, who looked at him like someone watching a trainwreck unfold, and Raven, who looked like she had had been told that it was her birthday and that all final exams would be cancelled and the teachers shot.

This was a disaster. It couldn't possibly get worse. What was it that Summer had told him? Be passionate. Sure, why not?

"But most people are wrong." He said firmly. Appleby sat up straighter in his chair. Oobleck nearly choked on his coffee. 'I've got their attention.' Taiyang cleared his throat as pompously as he could. "Right, so what actually happened was…"

"I liked the bit where you said that there was a 'cigarette famine'." said Raven, as she walked with Tai to detention. "Did you see Oobleck's face? He looked like he was going to have a heart attack." Tai rubbed the back of his neck as he dragged his feet towards the main office. "Yeah, it got kind of ridiculous. I'll probably get laughed at for a few days. People will say I'm a dumbass."

Raven turned and smiled at him. "You are a dumbass." She said. "But that doesn't mean your performance wasn't… Spellbinding." She brushed her hand against his and Tai felt his mouth go dry. Then, without warning, she spun on her heel and walked away. Tai stood in the suddenly empty hallway. He ran one hand down his face and sighed. He could feel his hand tingling with nerves where she had touched it.

"Oh shit." He said, to nobody in particular.

"Summer was furious." Qrow said, laughing, taking another swig of his beer. "She wouldn't talk to you for days afterwards." Tai chuckled and shook his head. "I still can't believe you actually wrote down what I said. And then bribed the whole student council to put it in the yearbook." He swallowed another sour mouthful of alcohol. He frowned and examined the label. "This tastes like shit."

Qrow just shrugs. "Hey, you bought it. Not my fault you're too straight-laced to party anymore." He sighs and pulls up a chair from the small table outside, sitting down as he puts his feet up on the railing. For a moment there was silence. "You know, things were much better when I was the one buying the beer." Tai rolled his eyes. "Qrow, I'm pretty sure that wasn't actually booze. Just paint-thinner, from the way it felt going down." The smile falls from his face as he looks out at the dandelions, their white, fluffy seeds carried away as they sway in the gentle breeze. "You know, I can barely remember the last time we did this."

"Qrow, I think I'm in love."

"Is that so?"

"There's this girl…"

"There usually is with you."

"Yeah, she's tall, dark hair, red eyes."

"Okay…?

"Wears a lot of red actually."

"I see."

"Even her sword is red."

"Mmm-hmm."

"Her name rhymes with Rave-Den-"

"Goddammit Tai, I get it already!"

"Really? That's it? No reaction whatsoever?"

"No, not really."

Silence. The two figures each take another beer from the cooler.

"Qrow, I'm dating your sister."

"So I gathered. And frankly, the thought makes me want to hurl, but you're too scared of her to do anything bad, so I guess I'm alright with it. Just don't go running to tell me all about it if you two bang after the grad dance, got it?"

The blonde one freezes halfway through drinking his beer. The dark-haired fellow turns away and looks out over the campus spread out in the amber glow of the sunset, and the city further beyond. The blonde boy scratches the back of his neck.

"Oh. Um… Okay then."

Neither of them knows how to continue the conversation. The dark-haired Huntsman clears his throat.

"It's really pretty out here."

"Yep. Sure is. Pretty as a postcard."

"…"

"…"

"Hey, Qrow. You ever wonder why we're here?"

"It's been a long time since then." Tai decides to direct his gaze away from his old friend and pretend he didn't hear. But in the end, the silence gets to him and he speaks up. "I guess the team just kind of… Broke apart." Qrow sucks in a breath. "Shit, Tai, I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what? There's nothing to be sorry for." "Yes, there is-" Tai slams his empty hand down on the railing and pounds back more of the bottle. "No, there isn't. It was all a stupid grudge. We were like a family, and sometimes families have falling outs." He grins incredulously and glances back towards the house.

"People as crazy as us tend to do crazy things. Me, I walked away from STRQ, from Beacon, all of that. I just… I withdrew. You went out into the world and did the same two things you'd done at Beacon- y'know, fighting and drinking. And Raven…"

He paused, his good humour faltering. He drank deeply and continued. "No doubt she thought I was a dumbass, keeping Yang, trying to play domestic, normal dad, because we're Hunters. We're not normal or domestic. I don't know how Summer managed it." Qrow finished his beer and got to his feet. "Tai… I have to go. I'll be back tomorrow night, but I need to check in with my students at Signal. And take care of some… Other stuff. Ozpin stuff."

"Oh. Um, yeah, that's fine. You know… We should do this again sometime. I still have beer in the fridge." Qrow blinks in surprise. "That sounds really good, Tai. Tell you what, we'll do that when I get back tomorrow night. Maybe even barbeque."

"As long as you're not doing the cooking." Tai jokes. "You burned ramen once. I still don't know how you did that." "Raven slipped fire dust into the flavor packet." Tai chuckles weakly and finishes his beer. "Right. Classic Raven." He gets up and shakes hands with Qrow, awkwardly slapping him on the back. As the grizzled Huntsman turns to leave, something makes him pause and turn to look Taiyang in the eyes.

"Tai… You still love her, don't you?"

The blonde Huntsman freezes. Looks out over the dandelion fields. The seeds swept up in the wind.

"Come on. Just get it open already." Raven's voice is sharp and needy as she presses against him, her arms wrapped around his waist. Tai, for his part, valiantly scrambles to open the fiddly lock while keeping one hand on Raven's hips at all times. "Hang on a second, birdbrain, I've almost got it…"

The Huntress huffs and her scarlet eyes narrow. "You know what, screw this." She all but tackles him into the door so hard that the lock breaks and they're stumbling into the room, lips pressed together as she starts pushing his hands further down her hips. "So bossy" he grins, as they break apart for air. "Honestly, if you were any more impatient-woah!" he lets out an oof as Raven whirls, flinging him onto the bed and suddenly he's lying back against the pillows and she's astride him, grinning wickedly.

"Maybe I am a bit bossy." She says. "But what I say goes. And I say that your hands should go here." He adjusts his hands accordingly and looks up at her, her long hair let down, eyes glowing in the moonlight, grinning playfully, and he knows just what to say to throw her off balance.

"I love you." He says, and Raven jerks her head back in surprise. Her expression softens. "Me too." She says, and while she's off-balance Tai flips her over so she's underneath him, so close he's staring right into her eyes. "I love you." He repeats. "Always and forever."

Raven cracks a smile. "You sap" she says, and suddenly their lips collide.

Tai looks back at Qrow. "Of course I do" he says. "I'll never stop loving her, deep down." He glances back at the house where his children sleep. "But I love my little girls more." Qrow nods as they lock eyes, and in a flash he's gone, soaring away on the wind.

Taiyang picks up the empty bottles and turns to head inside. His little girls need him. And he'll be there for them.

Forever and always.

"Yang! Sweetie! Get down from there!" His daughter either doesn't hear him or chooses to ignore him, laughing as she swings on the branches of the tall oak tree near their home. Ruby is content to simply dance around the foot of the tree with a long, curved tree branch, slicing through hordes of imaginary Grimm.

But Yang is up in the trees, leaping from branch to branch with wild abandon. Tai walks a little closer and calls out again. "Yang, please come down. You're too high!" But his daughter just perches on a branch and holds up two fists in triumph. "I'm invincible!" she cries, ferocious.

Taiyang sucks in a nervous breath, casting a quick glance towards Ruby to make sure that she's okay, and it's at that moment that he hears a crisp snap, and he's already moving forward, but he's too late as Yang slips, tries to catch a tree branch on her way down, and hits the ground with a thud.

She curls up and clutches her arm, sobbing, and Taiyang kneels down and scoops her up. "It's okay, sweetie, it's alright" he says, pulling her close, and he can hear Ruby come running over, swift as the wind, even now wanting to be the hero and help her sister.

"How's your arm, Yang? Is it broken?" Yang sniffles but doesn't react when he moves her arm, and he feels the breath go out of him with a sigh of relief. "It's okay, kiddo. You're okay?" Ruby is suddenly behind him, peering over his shoulder. "Is Yang okay?" Taiyang nods. "Yang's fine, Ruby. Just had a bad fall." He ruffles his daughter's long blonde hair, pulls Ruby close. "And what do we do when we mess up?"

"We go home and think about it" they reply, almost in unison, though Yang's voice trembles slightly. "and then we figure out what we did wrong, and don't do it again." Tai smiles. "That's my girls" he says, hugging them tightly. He nudges Yang. "Now on your feet, sunshine. Let's go home."

"Can I have some ice-cream? I'll be brave." Yang says, still sniffling. "Sure thing, dandelion. You're already very brave." He says, taking his girls by the hand. "Same to you, Ruby. That was very nice of you to try and help your sister. And yes, you can have ice cream too."

Ruby cries out with joy, and Yang smiles a little, and as Tai leads his little girls across the dandelion fields, he reflects on how lucky he is, that even after Raven his life is so full of love.

"It's pretty, isn't it, daddy?" Yang says, her violet eyes gazing up at the setting sun. Tai squeezes their hands tightly. Pulls them closer. "Yes," he says. "It is."

He means it.

He wasn't looking at the flowers.

Whelp, there's another one for you, folks! I really had fun with this MonCon, and I really like the one I did for MonCon June, but since I wasn't able to get it in on time I've been expanding and re-working it. I plan on posting it soon!

The trickiest part of it all was Raven's character, since we don't know much about her, so let me know if you think I got it right. Plus, I thought Tai and Qrow's deceased bromance deserved some love, so here we are!

As usual, if you have any questions, criticism, or you just liked the piece, let me know! And if you liked any other stories, be they MonCon or completely different fandoms, be sure to let them know, too! It's a great shot in the arm to hear from you guys, especially the people who follow me so I can do more of the stuff you like and smooth out the rough edges!

Thanks, and have a great day!