Dear ~Summer~ Mom,

I wanted to come and talk to you, but I'm halfway across the world right now, in Mistral, and we're about to leave for Atlas, so we'll be even further away. The best I could do was write a letter, and hope Dad is still in Patch when it arrives to read it to you.

It's been a long time since I've had a real talk with you, and I'm sorry for that. You honestly deserved so much more. You always did, much more than I've ever given you, even when you were still alive.

I finally found her. Raven. After all these years, after all this searching, for the one who I always felt I should call Mom. I have to say, it was… not what I had ever expected.

Life is hell, especially right now. I feel like a fool, spending so much of my life on this ridiculous search for the woman who left me the day I was born. Raven may have been my mother, but she will never be my mom.

That was always you.

It took me far too long, and hell, it took me traveling halfway across the world to understand that Raven is selfish, unkind, and generally both a horrible person, and mother. I know that once you were friends, but she has become something else. A power hungry, selfish, and disturbed individual. There's no such thing as family to her anymore. I never mattered to her. I only mattered as a tool when she needed to use me.

She's not the person she used to be. Or, at least, she's not the Raven that Dad painted her out to be. She's the furthest possible thing from that.

You were always there for me. Always. Super-Mom, always there to come to the rescue when Ruby or I needed it. Instead of allowing myself to properly grieve your death, I became swallowed by the search for Raven, as if finding her would fill the void that was left when you passed.

If anything, it's only created a new void alongside the new one. I had such hopes and ideals that I imagined Raven to be, and every single one of them were let down. I feel like I lost both my Mom and my Mother, the latter simply being a person of ideals.

There still isn't much time to grieve. We're in the thick of the mess, and things, as I can imagine, are only going to get worse from here. At the least, more hectic. I don't want to go into specifics just in case this mail were to ever get intercepted, but, well, I'm pretty damn sure you know about the things that have kicked off in Remnant.

I haven't talked to you since before the Vital Tournament. Ruby and Dad probably told you about what happened, about how I lost my arm. They probably told you about how I struggled for so long afterwards as well. If they didn't, well, Dad can take a break from this letter and tell you, but I don't really want to recount those lost months of my life right now.

What I did want to tell you is how much I've been getting better. Stronger, every day. The arm that General Ironwood sent for me, truly state-of-the-art Atlas technology, is pretty incredible. It'll never be able to fully replace the real thing, but hey, I gotta make do somehow. And my gun is built into my wrist now. How cool is that! Oh, god, I sound like Ruby.

Anyhow, I hope that you'd be proud of me in how far I've come, Mom. Not just with the arm, but with well… everything in my life. You always cared, and I know you'll always continue to care.

We lost several friends at the fall of Beacon. My friend Pyrrha was from Mistral, but she never got to show me around. Now, I guess, she's with you. We met her family the other day, they thanked us for fighting alongside and for their daughter. It made me think of a lot of you, and inspired me to write this letter. It's far too long overdue.

I don't know what happens after death, but if there is some sort of afterlife, please find Pyrrha. Pyrrha Nikos. Give her one of your patented Mom Hugs™ and tell her how much all her friends loved her and still think about her every single day. Penny Polendina too, if she's with you as well. Penny wasn't human though, she was a robot. I'm not sure if robots go to the afterlife, but if she did, please do the same for her. It'd mean a lot to us, all of us.

Our entire team is back together again after nearly a year of being apart. Weiss, in a weird twist of fate, actually got kidnapped by Raven… Yeah, go figure. I found her when I finally made it to the bandit camp, and we kept traveling together. Blake showed up when we were battling at Haven (Long story Dad, for a time that isn't in this letter, but everyone is okay). I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to handle seeing her again, especially since she fled after the fall of Beacon, but things are okay right now. They aren't perfect, and we still have a lot to sort out, but we're okay. We're all okay.

Ruby's been doing amazing throughout all of this. Qrow says that she definitely got her leadership skills and her ability to keep herself composed under pressure from you. You'd be infinitely proud of her, for everything she's done. I know I'm incredibly proud too.

Everything's been really scary for a while now. I don't know what's going to happen next, but it's terrifying, that's for sure. I really wish you were here. I wish you could give me one of your hugs and tell me that everything's going to be okay, that we're all going to get through this.

I miss you, Mom. I feel like I never got, and at this point, with everything that's going on, I feel like I never will get the chance to properly grieve for you. I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry that I've done so much wrong to you and your memory over my life.

I can only hope that you will find it in your heart to forgive me.

With love,

Yang

Taiyang sat on the ground facing Summer's grave. He stared at the letter for a few moments longer after he had read the last word. He gave a long sigh as he placed the letter down on the ground next to him.

"She's right, you know. You'd be very proud of her."

He leaned back on his hands, looking up into the sky. Six birds flew overhead, flying towards the setting sun. One seemed to fly further left of the group, while two others flew underneath the remaining three towards the right of the group.

"Oh, Summer. I wish you could see them now, both of them. They're doing incredible things, Yang and Ruby. They make me proud every single day."

Tai picked up the paper, folded it, and slipped it into his pocket. He placed his hand on the rose in the center of the grave, closed his eyes, and stayed there for a long moment. Eventually, he stood up, walking away from the grave. He stopped a few feet away, looking over his shoulder for a moment.

"I love you, Summer. Wish you were here."