Taiyang shamefully hung his head. He didn't want to do what he did. He didn't want to activate The Political Protocol, a program designed specifically for political prisoners. People who knew more than they should.
And to make matters worse, he had been forced to use it on his youngest daughter, and even lie to his eldest about it. It hurt him to see Yang like that, and it hurt him even more to think that his little girl didn't even know who he was anymore. Didn't even know he existed. It hurt a lot.
But it was nothing compared to how Yang felt. She grieved the "accidental" death of her sister, only to find out that not only was she not dead, but two of their closest friends had tried to kill her. And Yang defended those people. And now she had to carry the heavy burden of thinking that her mentally disturbed sister had taken her own life.
This was untrue, of course. And Taiyang knew it. He thought about it every single day, wondering if it was the right thing to do, wondering if he should have just let her have the sixty-five years. Wondering if that was any better. Of course, he would never know.
Of course, he did know that she would regain her memory at some point in the future, in fragments and pieces. Hopefully, by the time she remembered what had happened, she would be married, with children. She would have something to tie her down, something to prevent her from repeating what happened at Beacon. Or perhaps she would be over it, now that her conspirators were either dead or imprisoned.
Taiyang had considered the idea of just erasing the past six months, and telling her that she had been nearly killed by the Grimm, while the others she killed weren't as lucky. There had been an entire backstory planned, just to return to young girl back to normality.
But she remembered everything too fast. Within an hour of her regaining consciousness, she remembered everything. Ironwood didn't even give her a chance to process these memories before he sedated her.
Taiyang and Ironwood then spent the next three years skimming the girl's memory, allowing her to remember important information that most people needed to function in society. They allowed her to remember the information, but not where she learned it.
He knew it would be hard for her. He knew that once she remembered, she would feel the hurt and pain once again. And that was the last thing he wanted. He wanted to permanently rid her of the pain, and allow her to become the woman she always wanted to become. But that was impossible now. In order to completely erase her memory, they had to remove her aura completely. Which meant that no combat school would touch her with a ten meter cattleprod.
But, regardless of the fact that he had destroyed what little chances of becoming of huntress she had left, he still cared for her. Taiyang had been allowed clearance to watch her, make sure she didn't do anything stupid. Make sure nothing happened to her.
Of course, the Atlesian military didn't care whether or not she lived or died. All they cared about was making sure that Perseus stayed a myth. No one could link Perseus to Atlas. No one except for Taiyang Xiao-Long. And of course, they made an attempt to pay him off. They offered him millions of dollars just to keep his mouth shut.
And he accepted. But only to keep Ruby safe. He knew that if anyone ever found out about Perseus, they would come after Ruby. But, regardless, Taiyang didn't keep the money. He spent it to make sure that Ruby wasn't a homeless, unemployed amnesiac. He made it seem as though she had a life that she had forgotten.
He bought her a house— and of course bought furniture for it as well—a car, an RV and of course a safe to stow the money away in.
He just hoped it was enough to make sure she had a good life. And he, of course didn't tell anyone. Yang didn't even know they had offered him the money. And he hoped it would stay that way. If Yang found out about the money, she would find out about Ruby, and that would not be good. It would. be very, very bad.
Taiyang sighed. He was proud of Yang. He really was, but she still hadn't gotten over Ruby's "death". The first time nearly broke the poor girl, but the second time absolutely crushed her. In the first few months, while Beacon was recovering, she went days at a time without food, and rarely left her room.
And after three years, she had only improved slightly. She was eating, and being sociable. But every time someone mentioned Ruby— even in passing— she just broke down and began crying.
And Taiyang understood it. He understood what Yang was going through. Her mother had left her, her stepmother had left her, and now Ruby had left her. Twice.
But regardless, of whether or not it had happened before, Taiyang had another funeral for his youngest daughter, telling his parents that she had come back to him, scarred from the Grimm attack, but took her own life the very next day. And they were heartbroken, even though they had only met Ruby a handful of times. But she was family. And Summer had always been their favorite of Taiyang's wives.
Taiyang frowned, shaking away the memory of Ruby's second funeral. He missed her. He missed her so much.
Even now, three years later, as he walked up the stairs to Yang's apartment, he missed Ruby.
Taiyang loudly knocked on the door, the three thuds echoing throughout the small apartment. No answer. He did it again and heard an annoyed shout, "I'm coming!" Yang told him, unaware that her father was on the other side of the door.
Taiyang heard her unlock the door, and it flew open as Yang spoke, not realizing who she was talking to.
"What do you—?" She stopped, staring at him for a brief second before smiling, "Oh!" She happily said. "Dad! Come in!"
Taiyang grinned and walked past her, into the small apartment.
It wasn't very big, having only two rooms. One being the living room and kitchen, and the other being her bedroom, which Taiyang hoped wasn't occupied.
The kitchen was a mess, looking as though she was just too lazy to clean the dishes that were piled in the sink.
And the living room was nearly barren. There was only a couch and a small T.V. It was clear that the only reason she even owned an apartment was for sleep and the occasional gathering of friends.
"What brings you here?" She asked, taking a seat on the couch.
He shoved his hands in his pockets, and looked around for a second before he his gaze stopped at the picture of Ruby that stood beside the TV. He sighed.
"It's about Ruby." He quietly said.
The smile dissipated from her face, and her lip began to tremble. Taiyang swallowed hard and leaned against the wall.
"I've been doing some… investigating." He continued. "And I found a few things that…" He paused again, and angrily frowned. "I found a few things that pissed me the fuck off." He growled.
"What was it?" Yang shakily asked.
"That fucker, Ironwood, did a little more than tell her that no one wanted her," he said. "He indebted her. He told her, 'I saved your life, you're mine now'."
Yang's expressions turned from sadness to anger. Her eyes turned red and her hair caught fire.
"That bastard!" She shouted.
"Language…" Taiyang quickly said. She quietly apologized and there was a moment of silence.
"I don't know what to do with this information." He said, breaking the fragile silence.
"Indict him!" Yang told him.
Taiyang sighed, "I can't." He said.
"Why not?" She angrily asked.
Taiyang rubbed the back of his head.
"Because if he gets indicted, all the shit about Ruby I've worked very hard to hide will come to light. And it will destroy the Rose name." He said.
Yang stood and leaned against the wall opposite him.
"What is the 'official' story, anyway?" She asked.
"The official story is that she was put into witness protection, and was going to testify, but killed herself before she could. Out of fear." He said. "But the only one anyone seems to care about is that she was murdered by a Schnee."
Yang slowly nodded, "I've heard that people think that Winter had Ruby killed."
"She sure as hell tried." Taiyang told her.
Yang raised an eyebrow.
"She hired assassins. They showed up that night Ruby tried to smoke you out." He said.
"What're you gonna do?" She asked.
"I don't know." He said. "I'd hate for anyone to find out about Ruby. At that point, things would go back to how they were during the trial."
Yang rolled her eyes. "I can deal with the press camping on my doorstep for a while. As long as Ironwood serves some time."
Taiyang nodded and headed for the door.
"I'll think about it." He said.