Red is Gray and Yellow, White

by Lamia of the Dark

But we decide which is right, and which is an illusion. / The line between dreams and reality becomes blurred for Tai. Oneshot. For Caesar's Palace Emotion Challenge, prompt: deja vu.

DISCLAIMER: RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.

~ Red is Gray and Yellow, White ~

"It's OK," she said, cupping his face in her hands. "I forgive you."

And that felt wrong to him, somehow. Wasn't she the one who should be asking for forgiveness...?

Though the feeling of wrongness of the situation persisted, all coherent thought came to an abrupt end as Raven's lips met his. He found himself enveloped in an old, familiar feeling - which something at the back of his mind still insisted was wrong.

But, what-

Taiyang's eyes snapped open. He was alone, at home in his bed.

"Ah, it was a dream," he said aloud. It's not like anyone would hear him, anyway. Except maybe the dog. Everyone he loved had left him...

A soft rustling sound drew his attention. He frowned. Had he left the window open?

He looked, and there she was - her silhouette blocking the moon from his view. Crouched on the windowsill, about to leave him again.

He started to get up, started to say something-

He could swear he hadn't even seen her move but in the next split second she was across the room, pushing him back down into the mattress, and silencing him just as forcefully with her mouth over his.

Not allowing him time to respond, she pulled away.

"Go back to sleep, Tai," she said.

And then, in a flutter of wings, she was gone.

When he woke up the window was closed, but there was a single black feather on the floor. Oddly, he didn't remember getting up to close the window before going back to sleep.

He picked up the feather before kneeling to retrieve a box from under the bed. It had been a jewelry box once, but now it was full of black feathers. He laid them out on the mattress and counted them. The total was one more than it had been the last time.

She had definitely been here.

When he woke up, the window was still open.

He looked under the bed. There was no box.

~end~

Cold-hearted orb that rules the night,
Removes the colors from our sight.
Red is gray and yellow, white.
But we decide which is right,
And which is an illusion.

-from "The Late Lament" by The Moody Blues.