It was his birthday.
Scratch that, it was actually their birthday. However, there hadn't really been a 'them' for almost two years now, but that was neither here nor there. The point was that he was celebrating his birthday. Not her's.
At least, that was the mantra he repeated inside his mind throughout the day, from the point when he was woken up at the crack of dawn due to the cries of an infant Ruby, to just twenty minutes ago when they were all eating dinner and Summer had come to the startling realisation that she had forgotten the importance of the date.
He couldn't blame her, the struggle of dealing with a two-year-old toddler as well as a two-month-old infant was catching up to her, and she had a lot on her plate. Truthfully, he was almost thankful that she forgot. It was easier to get through the day by pretending it didn't exist, rather than pretending that everything was the way that it used to be.
He suffered through Summer's endless torrent of apologies with a smile on his face. She was holding a sleeping Ruby in her arms, and even though she was talking to him she was still utterly entranced by her tiny daughter. The new mother hadn't been more than a room away from Ruby for more than five minutes since the moment she was born, and she was running herself ragged. Bags had started to grow under her eyes. She was getting the least amount of sleep out of all of them, even if she had started to learn the benefits of having a power nap when both of the girls were down for a nap each day. Qrow never expected her to have the time to go into town, or to Vale, to buy him the most perfect and also touching gift for his twenty-fourth birthday.
Summer rambled on as Qrow did the dishes. After he was done, he accepted her fifteenth apology in a row and gave her a sideways hug so as not to disturb the infant in her arms, before telling her that he was going to turn in early for the night.
Except he didn't turn in early for the night. Instead, He snuck out of his bedroom window like a rebellious teenager, albeit with a lot more style. Being able to transform into his namesake on a whim had always been a double-edged sword: it added a unique style of stealth to his repertoire of skills, yet it also made him the butt of many avian-themed jokes, often directed to him from a certain blond teammate of his.
He flew quite a ways down the path that lead through the forest down into town before he transformed back into a human. He made sure that he was far enough from the house that he wouldn't have been spotted by a wayward glance out the window. He was not very proud of what he was about to do, but he knew that if either Summer or Taiyang found out then he would have been in some pretty deep shit. In his mind, as always, it was better to deal the fallout tomorrow. Forgiveness was easier to ask for anyways.
Putting his hands into his pockets, he shivered as he walked under the bare treetops that crisscrossed their way through the moonlit sky. He could hear a version of Summer within his mind, berating him for not bringing a coat. It was near the end of autumn, and the ground was just beginning to frost. The leaves that used to be on the trees were crunching under his feet as he made his way down the path. In the distance, he saw the streetlights of the town of Patch, and he picked up his pace.
His feet brought him to the only pub in town, straight to the bar at the back of the building. He was pretty sure that at one point in time, probably a couple years ago, Summer had paid the bartender off to not serve him anything, but Qrow had more than enough to sway him to his side. He slapped down a couple hundred Lien onto the bar, ordered a whisky, and told the bartender to keep them coming.
There was no way he was getting through this night sober.
She went to him because she knew that he wouldn't remember their conversation. She knew that the next day when he woke up in his bed with a pounding headache, the acrid taste of bottom-shelf whisky in his mouth, and the unshakeable need to vomit, he would come to the final conclusion that he somehow got back home by himself before running to the bathroom.
That night was a night for confessing. And there was no other person she would rather confess to.
She walked into the pub with her head held eye, grabbing looks from all across the room. She had decided to keep her mask at home, but it was doubtful that many of the townsfolk saw people brazenly carrying a weapon around on a daily basis, especially one as eye-catching as Talon. She sat next to Qrow at the bar, leaning Talon against it between her legs. She then waved the bartender over.
"How many has he had?" She asked him, gesturing to Qrow, who was lying face down on the bar, head nestled into his crossed arms.
"Nine or ten. Ran out of money a while ago." The bartender shrugged, drying a glass with a towel in his hands.
Raven pulled some Lien out and slid it across the bar over to him, "I'll have what he's having, and keep them coming." She demanded.
"The bartender looked at her sceptically, one eyebrow raised. His gaze shifted between her and Qrow, "You sure he's gonna be okay?"
She shrugged her shoulders, and easily slipped into a lie, "It's our birthday today, guess he started celebrating a bit too early." The bartender accepted her story and came back a couple minutes later, two glasses of whisky in his hands. When he put them down on the bar, it was enough to shake Qrow from his slumber. She watched in disgust er brother picked up on of the tumblers and knocked it back with one gulp. She quickly snatched the second one so he wouldn't do the same to her own drink. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve, then he looked at her from the corner of his eyes.
"So, you're here." He grumbled. Ten seconds later, the bartender placed another tumbler of whisky in front of him. This time, Qrow just took a sip before setting it back down again.
"Yes." She replied, taking a sip of her own drink, almost gagging at the taste. She had never had the same tolerance for alcohol that her brother did.
Qrow shook his head, "You're not real." He stated as if he was trying to convince himself this was all just a dream.
Raven raised her eyebrow, "Why not?"
"You don't come when I'm sober." He said. Apparently, he had seen her before when he was in this drunken state. He sighed, "Why are you here, sis?"
"A girl can't see her brother on their birthday?"
"Only to tell him if she's coming back." There was a beat of silence between them. Qrow stared at her accusingly. She didn't return his glare, just continued to stare at her drink, dragging her finger along the rim of the glass, building up the strength to do the thing she came here to do.
"How's Ruby?" She asked. Qrow's eyes widened, his interest suddenly piqued. Maybe he did believe that she was real, instead of a figment of his drunken conscious.
"How do you know about her?" He asked.
"I've known about her birth for… a while now." She explained, deliberately maintaining an aura of vagueness. She took another sip of her drink. It burned on the way down.
Qrow copied her, taking another sip from his tumbler as well, "She's good. Summer and Tai dote on her constantly."
"So she is Taiyang's daughter after all."
Qrow wasn't an idiot, he could hear what she was implying. "What did you see, Raven?"
"I saw Summer and the child in the hospital room. I saw Taiyang, and I saw you. You were late." She said, accurately describing what had happened on the day of Ruby's birth. He had been in a meeting with Oz in the others, and his scroll had been turned off. When he finally remembered to turn it back on, he was bombarded with multiple messages telling him to get to the hospital on Patch as soon as possible. Without as second thought, he had run out of the meeting as quickly as he could, the glares of his colleagues chasing after him as he flew out of the open window.
"So Ruby could have been…" The last word went unspoken between the two of them.
"Perhaps," Raven admitted, " Although I never saw that possibility, I thought it wise not to draw conclusions."
"But you still came here to confirm them," As always, he saw right through her. He knew she was keeping more information from him,
"What else did you see, Raven?" He demanded.
She wasn't ready to tell him yet, so she redirected his question with one of her own, "The girl has her mother's eyes?"
Qrow didn't answer, but the glare he gave her did.
"Good."
"What did you see, Sis?" He demanded a second time. He was getting angry now, infuriated at the circles that Raven was weaving into their conversation.
Raven took a breath and held it, "Summer's child needed to be born. Me leaving was the catalyst for that future to become recognised." She confessed.
"How long?" He asked.
"Qrow-"
"How long, Raven." He was fully enraged now, glaring at her with sparkling eyes. His fist was clenched around his tumbler, hard enough that he could shatter it if his Semblance decided to latch on.
Thankfully, it didn't, but she kept her gaze on it just in case. She couldn't look him in the eyes anymore. "Around the time I discovered I was pregnant."
"And why are you telling me now, of all times?"
"Because I know you'll forget this conversation in the morning." She bowed her head.
"You fucking coward," Qrow shouted, releasing his hand from around the glass and banging his fist on the bar. The whisky glasses rattled from the tremors. Raven grew uneasy as all the heads in the bar immediately turned to look the disturbance of the drunken peace. The bartender glared at them, and Raven figured out that they had overstayed their welcome. She nodded to him and took out some more Lien from her pocket to give to him as a tip, even though she had never even finished her drink. She then attached Talon to her hip and grabbed her brother's arm to put it over her shoulder. She lifted him out of his seat so that he was still standing on his own two legs, but she was bearing most of his weight. He stumbled along beside her as she lead him out of the bar.
They walked over to the edge forest, and she lead them far enough into the trees so that no prying eyes would be able to see them. She let her brother lean against a tree for a couple seconds while she took out the blade made of pure, glittering crimson Dust from Talon's holster. With one swipe at the air with her sword, a portal was cut into the fabric of the space around it. She then picked up her brother once more and leads him through it. He mumbled something against his chest, a comment on her new blade perhaps, but she wasn't able to hear exactly what he said.
As always, a chill made its way down her spine as she walked through the swirling vortex of crimson darkness, but when she came out the other side she was welcomed by comforting warmth and the strong scent of what she could only describe as home.
Her brother's bed was, unsurprisingly, unmade, which made it even easier for her to dump him on top of it. She took an extra second to pull the blankets over his body as his disorientated eyes tried to focus on the ceiling above him. Once the covers were over his body, he turned onto his side and burrowed his head into his pillows, bringing up his legs to curl them against his chest. She presses a hand into his hair and bid him a silent goodbye before she turned around and created another portal.
"Y'know, sis, it doesn't matter to me." He said to her back, speech slurring.
"What doesn't, brother?" She asked
"If she's mine or not. If either o' them are."
"Why not?"
"'Cuz I don't need somethin' as stupid as blood to love 'em. I'm gonna be better than you. I'm gonna be the best uncle in all of Remnant." He said, determination written into the tone of his voice.
Raven smiled. A vision of a small Summer lookalike trying to wield a crimson red scythe with shaking arms flowed through her mind. The girl smiled as Qrow walked up to her, correcting her stance with practised hands and a warm smile.
"I know you will, brother."
Okay, so I promised myself I wouldn't post two chapters about the twins' birthdays in a row, but I just couldn't help myself. This is honestly my favourite chapter that I've written so far, and I just wanted to post it so bad. I've been thinking of the concept since I wrote chapter 6 and I've been sitting on it ever since.
A couple notes:
(1) Raven's Semblance is always very difficult to write. And now I've got it in my head that her relationship with her Semblance has certainly evolved over time. She started with just being able to see the possibilities, and then she started figuring out how to to make them into actual outcomes, sometimes for her benefit over others.
(2) I also hope this chapter clears up my stance on the whole 'Qrow is Ruby's father' thing. I ultimately think that their relationship is more interesting and rewarding if they're just uncle and niece. However, Raven is kind of trying to poke the bear here by insinuating Ruby emcould/em have been his. It doesn't work.
(3) Raven also gives Qrow empart/em of her reasoning behind leaving. However, I'm not going to leave it at that. I think there are multiple reasons that piled up that forced Raven to run back to the tribe./li
Also, on a kind of unrelated note, this story has reached 1500 hits on ao3 and combined! So thank you to everyone that has read it, as well as commented, kudoed, favourited, and subscribed!