Disclaimer: First Chapter
Story Start!
"Oh... oh god no..." Taiyang muttered in shock when he looked into Ruby's eyes first thing in the morning for breakfast. After the children had all gone to bed, he had noticed that Summer had never come home. She hadn't sent a message to him, or even to Qrow, she had just got dark. He had been worried sick all night, but he wasn't sure why, and now he knew what.
Something happened to Summer.
Ruby's blue eyes... had turned silver.
"Daddy?" Ruby asked with a tilted head of concern for her father. Naruto and Yang didn't ever really pay attention to Ruby's eyes, so they didn't notice the color change. They were young, they didn't pay as much attention to details. Most children didn't even think about their own eye colors until they were more self-aware.
Most likely, they would never remember Ruby's eyes being blue like his own.
"Geezer?" Naruto asked when Taiyang backed up enough for his back to touch the wall. He just sort of slid down the wall, with teary eyes as he looked at Ruby. Yang looked concerned as well, and she went over to her father. Naruto joined her, while Ruby went with him and they all went towards Taiyang.
"Dad..." Yang whispered in concern for him, and he rubbed his eyes, and he just stood up and sort of walked out of the room in a daze.
"I'm going... call your Uncle Qrow... he will be here in a little bit I'm sure... I need to be alone for awhile." Taiyang said as he shut down. His mind just shut down, he couldn't accept reality. First, he had lost Yang's mother because she ran away from them. Now, he had lost Ruby's mother to death. Taiyang went into his room, and he shut the door behind him, leaving the children alone in the room.
"What is wrong with Daddy?" Ruby asked Naruto, who was frowning and looking at the door.
"... She never came home..." Naruto said as he looked at the door. He knew he had a bad feeling, and now he knew what that bad feeling was.
His mother was not coming back home.
Naruto's eyes started to tear up, and Yang was surprised, before she went over to Naruto and started to pat him on the back. He didn't like this, and neither of his sisters knew what was wrong with him. They just knew that Naruto was now crying at when he figured something out, even though Ruby didn't know what exactly was wrong, she started to tear up as well. She could feel, sense, Naruto's emotions for some reason. She didn't know why, but the two of them were always feeling what the other was feeling.
"Mom? She will be back soon." Yang told Naruto, before she looked into his eyes and saw that he was sure that something was wrong with her.
"What is wrong with mommy?" Ruby asked, and Naruto was about to speak up, before a person came into the house. The man was taller than Taiyang, and he was more... drunk smelling. He had spiky black hair, and a rather angular face, with red eyes. He had n a gray shirt with a darker gray stripe doing the middle, and a red cape on with blac pants. On his back was a larger siulver sword, with a long red handle, with a gray frame over part of it with a bladed guard in front of part of the handle. The blade was large, and had several lines going over it.
"Uncle Qrow... Do you know when Mom is coming home?" Yang asked their uncle, and Qrow looked uncomfortable with her asking him that.
He looked at Ruby, at her now silver eyes, before he realized that Summer really was dead. Taiyang wasn't as knowledgable about silver eyes as he was, but Qrow knew that Ruby wouldn't get silver eyes unless Summer had died, and he knew the real reason why. The children would one day forget that Ruby ever had the same blue eyes as her father and brother.
"She isn't... Summer... your Mom... won't be coming back. Naruto, you should go take your medicine and go to bed. Ruby, why don't you go with him... and look after them Yang, I need to talk with Tai." Qrow didn't spare their feelings much. He didn't tell them lies, or give them the hope that Summer would return. She was dead, Qrow knew it to be a fact now, Ruby all but confirmed it for him.
The children did not take the news well.
He didn't want them to believe she would be coming home, only to be cruely let down when she never got home. It was better to tell them now, than let them learn it later when they got their hopes up. Naruto broke down then and there, his tears didn't stop spilling. His sobs weren't the only ones heard though. Ruby was crying as well, with Yang almost shutting down like Taiyang had.
Qrow picked up Naruto and Ruby, before he carried them towards their room, the twins shared a room which was no surprise to anyone.
Yang followed after him, just stunned at what she had heard, her tears staining her face as she walked. She climbed into the bed that Qrow set the twins in, before she hugged her crying siblings.
'Damnit Summer... look what you did. You shouldn't have gone on that mission. You should have let me die in your place.' Qrow thought with a frown on his face. He walked out of the room, before he went towards Taiyang's room. He opened the door, and he closed it behind him most of the way.
"Go away..." Taiyang said as he laid on the bed, crying like his children. Qrow wanted to cry as well, but he knew he had to remain strong.
"Get up Tai, you have children that need you right now." Qrow stated to Taiyang, who sat up and glared at him. Neither of them noticed a small lilac colored eye that was peeking into the door at them. Taiyang and Qrow were too busy staring at each other, red eyes met blue ones, and the two grown men were not paying attention to everything like they usually would.
"I need to mourn..." Taiyang told Qrow, who frowned deeper.
"You need to take care of your shit. Those three kids, they are more important than mourning. You will always have memories of Summer, one day they won't even remember her face. They need you now more than ever. I know you are prone to shutting down when stressed, but you can't do it this time." Qrow told Taiyang, whose dead eyes looked at Qrow with not interest in his words. He had already shut down fully, words didn't mean much to him at the moment.
"This is the second time I have a lover Qrow... first Raven, now Summer..." Taiyang spoke lowly, and Qrow sighed.
"Don't bring up my sister, you have three children who need you. Summer would be pissed at you if you shut down, and they got hurt. Get out of your depressed state and get your ass in gear." Qrow told Taiyang, who looked down at the ground. He was obviously depressed, and he knew that he should control himself and comfort his children.
But, he just couldn't. It wasn't so easy to turn off your own emotions and do what was best for others.
"I... I can't Qrow... I know... I know I should do what is best for the kids, but... it is hard..." Taiyang whispered, and Qrow nodded his head in understanding.
"It isn't easy, but not everything that needs to be done is easy. Raven would never forgive you if you neglected Yang, and Summer would never forgive you if you neglected any of them. You still haven't told Yang that Summer was only her step-mother." Qrow told Taiyang, and neither of them saw the lilac eye peeking in on them widening a lot. They did not know that Yang had heard everything they said, and was still listneing to them talk.
"You don't have to tell her, Raven left of her own free will. I don't know why she left. It isn't time to bring up old wounds. Right now, you need to focus on the people who need you. You can take Yang to the home she was born in later when you feel she is ready... but right now, go to your children." Qrow said to him, and Taiyang looked towards him with a sorry look in his eyes.
"That old place in the woods... if it hasn't been taken down by Beowolves by now it will be soon. You are right though... I just need time to... deal with my emotions. Qrow, I need your help... you are their Uncle... you might only be related to Yang, but you are the Q of Team STRQ... you might as well be my brother... I need you to watch them for a few days... please..." Taiyang begged Qrow, who pat Taiyang on the shoulder and nodded his head slowly.
-With Yang-
'Summer isn't even my mom...' Yang thought to herself as she picked up Ruby and Naruto, and she carried them out of their room. The two of them had cried themselves to sleep, their little hearts couldn't handle the loss of their mother. Their brains had just shut down to deal with the stress better. Yang on the other hand, was emotionally devastated that she was only half-siblings with her siblings.
She heard about a house in the woods, and she left the grownups conversation the second she heard where it was.
If she couldn't have Summer, than she would take her siblings and go find her mom. Then her mom would take care of them, and her dad would be able to mourn all he wanted to when he was alone. She was so heart broken that he never told her that her mother had left her. Yang gently placed the sleeping siblings in a small wagon, before she grabbed it and started to walk.
She would walk for as long as she would have to.
"Mom... my..." Naruto muttered in his sleep, and Yang started to pull the wagon faster as she ran with her siblings being pulled behind her.
"Don't worry, I will find us another mom. Then, we can all have cookies together again... Yeah, my mom will make even better cookies..." Yang whispered to herself, not knowing that she was crying. Her face was numb at the moment.
So, she walked.
She walked and she walked, she walked so long that her feet started to hurt her. It was the morning when she started to walk, and when she looked up she saw that the sun was in the middle of the sky. Her stomach was growling, and she was quickly exhausting herself.
That didn't matter though.
She had a mother to find!
Chapter End!
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