Another three weeks, another update. As for the White Rose Commission, the line art is done so it could be ready in time before the next update, but my indecisiveness has gotten in the way. I'm so sorry, Bakki. It was supposed to be a Valentine's/Single Awareness Day thing, but hopefully it warms your cockles after the fact. However, on to Bumblebee.

Yang: Dawn of the Sunny Little Dragon

Yang roughly grunted into each punch, the blonde running on fumes as she'd spent the better part of two hours in The Yellow Stinger training area. It was deep into the night, the woman not aware of this as she snuck herself into the organization's building for the time being. With no projects at home and the pizza front operating at full capacity, Yang felt slacking off would be the worst thing she could do, especially with all the rage fueling her.

After the night of meeting her mother, she kept replaying the conversation in her head. She nitpicked the exchange apart, reading between lines that weren't there and going over every possible turn it would have taken. She couldn't shake not knowing what could've been if she had a cooler head. Dejectedly, she couldn't fine that happy ending, the blonde only seeing how selfish her mother had been, how it could've only ended the way it did because of her nature, and it only made her angrier.

"Why. Are. You. So," Yang pushed as she chipped the last word from her, "Insufferable!" She roared the last word, her fist connecting with the poor punching bag, the last hit brutally tearing through the poly-nylon fabric, the sand spilling out as the workout equipment tapped out. She wiped the sweat from her brow, not forgetting the tears in her eyes as she bent over, taking in the much needed air from her session.

She let herself collapse to the ground, back up against a wall as she took a well-earner breather. Although she let her body recover, she still dealt damage to her psyche. "Why did I ever expect it to not go down the way it did? It's not like she's come back in the twenty years since she up and left. The only times I even get word on her is Qrow. I'm glad familial ties come first, but your only daughter and loving boyfriend get a participation ribbon. I honestly wonder who could've been the forth member of Team STRQ. Who somehow was less compatible with the team that she had to be the R? Oh wait, I circled back again to me not being born."

The blonde leveled out, curling up and sinking her face into her knees and she thought about the matter. "No matter what, I guess this was always supposed to happen."

She heard metal close and open in the distance, Yang not looking up as she knew it could be the only other person at HQ. "Yang?" the Faunus called out, wondering where her girlfriend was.

"I'm over here," she yelled out, putting her face back into her resting position. The footsteps drew closer and a cool wetness hit her cheek, Blake pressing a water bottle to her face. The Faunus wore a warm smile, the blonde glad to see her girlfriend keeping afloat. "Thanks," she said, cracking open the top and downing half of it.

Blake took a seat next to her, shuffling up next to the sweaty body. "So, you broke another one," the Faunus motioned towards the leaking sack of sand and fabrics.

"Yep," she deadpanned.

"I don't think we have another one in storage. I might have to go down to the sports warehouse and buy a couple with our funds," her partner said, Yang feeling guilty that they were dipping into their savings for her sake.

"No, don't worry about it. I'll go after I get some sleep," the blonde tried to ease her girlfriend's burden, knowing she's been carrying a lot of The Yellow Stinger procedures and household duties since Yang spiraled into her hatred. Much to her partner's benevolence, Blake gave her the space she needed and respected her decisions.

"Alright, I'll text you tomorrow to also pick up our dry cleaning," the Faunus replied. "Is there anything else you want before I head home?"

The only time Yang smiled in the past couple months has been around Blake, the blonde not worthy of such kindness. "Blake, you have your own life and I don't want it muddled with my problems."

"I disagree with how wholeheartedly you've been there for me in the past," Blake confidently remarked. "Your life is part of my life. It's our relationship, Yang, and I intend on keeping the appropriate tabs on you like making sure you're not malnourished, but I can see you've already been hurting yourself."

The Faunus took her lover's hands into her own, the blonde gritting her teeth as Blake gently maneuvered over the cuts and bruises on her knuckles, the blood soaking through her hand wraps. "By that logic, I'm ruining our relationship."

"I wouldn't put it so bluntly, but if I were to take a page from your book, we've been on a record of a dry streak." The Faunus placed a comforting hand on the blonde's shoulder. "And that's not a jab at you, mind you. It's a reminder that I'm here for you. I may not be ten feet away from you like the last time you were set off, but you're always on my mind. I know this is a personal problem, but if this is a way we can come and work on this together, then I'm more than fine with doing my part."

Yang leaned into her girlfriend's shoulder, the Faunus adjusting her grip and loosely wrapping it around the blonde. Her fingers headed upwards to her scalp, the Faunus' fingers combing through the mane and deep into the skin, the soothing act working better than beating the punching equipment. "Thanks again. I don't know another person who'd put up with me like you do. But I still stand by what I said."

"And I still stand by you," the Faunus quipped back, the comment both witty and heartfelt as Yang was pacified with such simple words. "You feeling any better today?"

"It's about the same," she sighed into her girlfriend.

"It's been the same for awhile now," Blake pointed out.

"I don't mean to be this difficult. It's been really hard to process all of this. The more I think about her, I get distracted with what she said, how she said it, and then it boils down to everything that I found out when my dad gave me those files. Like... it makes me wonder what anyone, not just my dad, saw in her."

"I know there's plenty of negative to focus on, but you have seen a glimpse into the person she is, or once was," the Faunus mentioning the same recording that painted her mother in a bad light. "I don't think your mother is a completely bad person, and even though I can't justify anything to the contrary, she did come to you to warn you of danger. At the very least, she does care to some degree. I don't know if that helps..."

"I wish it did," the blonde cutting her off. "It's what's she said after is what completely negates that action. She wants me to back off so she doesn't get hurt, so she can carry on with her ways of defeating The White Fang. At the end of the day, I'm back to being an inconvenience to her," Yang grinded her teeth as the ire inside flared back to the dawn at the rooftop.

"Why can't it be both?" the Faunus proposed.

"I'm sure if I went back into the archive, I could find a clip that proves it."

"Those clips are twenty years old. People change. I mean, we've changed in the seven years we've known each other," her girlfriend continued. Yang knew that to be true, thinking how she'd laugh at her seventeen-year-old for handling issues with such brute force. But, at the moment, the twenty-five-year old woman felt like she was the thirteen-year-old who would storm off into her room, shut the door, and pout. "Have you thought about trying to get in contact with her?"

"A better question is how do I get in contact with her," the blonde retorted. "She showed up out of nowhere and I couldn't get a word in edgewise. But after twenty years of wondering where she is, I hope she doesn't show up any more. I'll happily stay ignorant for the rest of life about her so I don't get these feelings again."

"If you thought that, then you wouldn't have locked yourself in the training area to work it out," Blake reminded, Yang steeping foolheartedly into her hypocrisy. The blonde took a look at her scroll, the time nearing almost four hours of constant thinking and hitting various equipment. She felt her eyes get heavier as the high from working out settled in, the blonde motioning her head into the Faunus' lap, closing her eyes as her girlfriend stroked through her long mass. "She's the only one that has the answers you want. They may not be the answers you want to hear, but I think it's worth seeking out."

"I'll think about it, Blake, but right now, I want some sleep," the blonde said as she nestled herself into her girlfriend's thighs.


The blaring sound of her alarm went off, the woman rudely awakening from a dismal slumber. She blindly reached for her scroll, using her memory to find the snooze and give her the extra ten minutes. After the second wave, she stopped it, opening her eyes to find a training area that had some of its morning patrons from The Yellow Stinger. As nice as it was for them not to disturb the blonde leader, she wouldn't have minded someone nudge her awake.

She wiped the drool of the side of her cheek and sat up, her jacket she didn't remember covering herself with sliding off and not a Blake to be found. A text notification sounded off, the blonde bringing her scroll to her face to get a note from her girlfriend. "I hope you slept well. I didn't want to wake you because your shift starts soon. I figured the more rest the better." The blonde checked the time, the Faunus moving the alarm timer an extra half hour to her best interest. "Your spare clothes should be in your locker for work so no need to come back home. Feel better, Yang, and I love you."

The blonde dismally closed the message after answering with a massive 'thank you', wondering how she has been letting herself be so moody when her girlfriend had to deal with her. "I'm the worst," she thought to herself, giving a quick stretch to crack the sore bones from the hard bed and got to getting ready. A quick shower, dabbing of makeup, and dressing herself, she was out the door with a pizza in her mouth.

"There's so much I need to make up for, but before I can make a list of things I need to do for Blake, I need to figure out me. I can't keep doing this to her, my friends, or the organization. I think they didn't wake me up because they've seen how moody I've been. Raven does have answers to questions that only Qrow or Taiyang can speculate on. But... I can't even think about her without getting angry. I can't... I can never forgive her for what she's done. What's the point of trying when it's going to end up worse?"

Yang got a message on her scroll, Blake reminding her to get the dry cleaning on the way home. "I think any time would be too soon, but how long am I going to make others wait?"

*-Blake-*

The last bite of her albacore fillet was bittersweet as her meal was finished, Blake impressed she could get as good at cooking as her partner after a few years of making her own meals. As a young Faunus, she'd camp outside the market shops of Menagerie, smelling the heavenly scent of professionally prepared food, the aroma that always caught her nose being the nautical entrees. "I'm no five-star chef, but at least I didn't have to drop eighty Lien for this."

She brought her dishes to the sink, giving a quick rinse before throwing them in the dishwasher. In the corner of her eye, she saw Yang's serving still tightly wrapped in plastic, the steam opaquing her meal. "I guess it's another long day," she thought to herself. "Those are all too common."

As she was about to kickback and get better at fighting video games to one-up her smug partner on game nights, the lock and tumble of Yang's keys clanged from the front, Blake off her feet and into her lover's arms as she greeted her girlfriend. "Oh, someone is glad to see me."

"I always am," the Faunus told her white lie. She was happy to see Yang, always, but lately, with everything that went down with her mother, it wasn't unusual to have her partner come home late, wake up at odd hours in the morning or, like today, come back hurt. It wasn't by Grimm or The White Fang, but Yang cathartically training herself till there wasn't any anger left in her. Blake would take this over the Qrow method of self-soothing, Yang's breath alcohol free whenever she'd be around her.

After the welcome home kiss, she took the blonde's coat off and tried scooting her to the dinner table. "I'm not hungry at the moment," she said, Blake not surprised that response came again. "I'll probably pick at it for a late night snack, but I need to go to bed. Sleeping at HQ isn't the most restful sleep."

The Faunus accepted that excuse based on personal experience. "Alright, I'll join you in an hour or two," kissing the back of her head before watching her partner slog down the hall. Blake did her quick examination, finding a new bruise on the back of her wrist that wasn't there this morning. The Faunus didn't bring it up, chalking this up to the many ways she's enabling this behavior as she quietly yielded to the couch.

She tried doing her girlfriend's method of drowning out problems with games, but today the practice wasn't cutting it, Blake pausing the fighter as she contemplated. "I've never felt so helpless. I can't go looking in Taiyang's files, she wouldn't be susceptible to any type of pandering, and I respect her too much to tell her to bury this. I can't rush her through this, but I can't sit by and keep propping her up. There has to be something I can do."

Blake turned off the console and went into the kitchen for a light nightcap. She opened the cabinet to find a scanty shadow of their former stock. She reached for a whiskey, the label the same as Qrow's favorite brand. As she was reminded of the fabled uncle, she figured a way to be more proactive in her approach. She put the bottle away and snuck into her bedroom, the Faunus feeling foolish for sneaking around her own home. The blonde was knocked out on the spread, Blake drawing the covers over her better before taking a look at Yang's scroll. With the simple unlock, she took the number needed and headed outside.

Blake bundled herself in Yang's tan jacket, the cold air of the winter's nip in full form in the late part of the year. She punched in the numbers and dialed Yang's uncle, the Faunus praying he wasn't in the middle of a Grimm infested forest and could get a signal. The last ring before voicemail, the man picked up, bewildered at the caller with the unknown digits. "Blake?"

"Hello, Qrow. Thank you for answering. I hope I'm not disturbing you,"

"Not at all. I was just waking up and having a bit of whiskey before I head out," the man mentioned, the Faunus figuring he be half way around the world with the sun shining down on him. "I know it may be presumptuous to ask, but why are you calling me? Where's Yang?"

Blake knew that question would come first, Blake prepared to be a straightforward as possible. "She's in the condo sleeping. And your senses aren't lacking. I don't know how often you get word from your sister, but she did finally reveal herself to Yang."

The statement was also news to the Branwen sibling, the man almost losing his grip on his glass and scroll as it hit him. "Wait, Raven actually spoke to Yang? To her face?"

"Yes and it went as pleasant as you might imagine," Blake replied. "Yang's dealing with it, but she can't seem to shake this slump. I feel there's only one person who can help her and I can't exactly get a hold of her."

"Well, that explains why I haven't heard from her in awhile. I was thinking it be one of the worse-case scenarios, but this might fall into the worst-case," he disclosed. "I know that you're negatively affected by all this, but I hope you wanting to see her isn't to just yell and scream at her."

"I promise, I won't do that. Yang did that enough for the both of us," the Faunus reassured. "I have to see if I can help Yang. I'm hovering over her, making sure she isn't withering away as she's solving this. I need her present and the incident with her mother has had her regressing. I'm not going to fight Yang's battles, nor am I going to ask you to. I want to talk to Raven and see if I can get her to reconcile, or at the very least, answer some of Yang's burning questions."

Qrow finished off his glass, setting it down before answering. "You're asking for a miracle here and a miracle already happened when Raven decided to show up on her own free will."

"I know I'm asking a lot, but I'd do anything to get Yang back to fighting form. This is the only path that's showing itself." The Faunus laid her cards on the table, Qrow willing, but clearly at an impasse on how to pull this off.

"I'll get in touch with her any way I can, but she will not come if she thinks she's being tricked. It can only be you, no one else," he ordered, Blake understanding the stipulations.

"Seems agreeable. Thanks, Qrow. I hope this works."

"I hope this does, too. Get inside. I can tell you're miserable in that dry Vale cold," he said as he signed off, Blake changing her nightcap into some hot chocolate as her fingers got stiff from the chill factor. She ducked inside, got her warm brew and tuned her mind out with television, her mind too awake to try and go to sleep.

"I know I shouldn't have this much optimism in you, Raven, but I do think you're more than what those files are."


Blake watched her scroll like hawk, every buzz it gave she snatched it from her pocket to get disappointed it wasn't Qrow. After a week of jumping into her pockets, there was some good news, but she didn't like what had to happen next. He did get in contact with Raven, but couldn't tell her when, his sister being stubborn with the concept of meeting her daughter's girlfriend. But at least the Faunus had a where. Raven said if she were to show up, it would be on the roof where she appeared last, Blake having to wait in the freezing weather on her free time to see if she would show up.

After a week of being stood up, she decided that this would be her last night, giving Raven one more chance before Blake goes back to the drawing board. Luckily, with Yang's state of mind, she didn't notice how absent her partner was, nor all of her jackets as Blake sat in the cold. She looked at her scroll, the time past midnight. "One more hour," she said to herself, now wondering who was in denial as she's muttered that phrase a hundred times this week. She looked towards the sky, the moon waning, it almost whole again from this set.

A strange noise her Faunus ears picked up, Blake standing up as she tried to locate it. Behind one of the stacks, Raven stepped out, the red portal she uses disappearing as she met Blake's eyes. "I didn't mean to run this meeting till the thirteenth hour, but there were pressing matters I had to be present for."

Blake wasn't a child of a broken home, but she felt the sting she's heard Yang describe so well as a parent deemed another ambiguous activity more important than them. With the woman in front of her, she finally got a real look at Yang's biological mother. She had Yang's eyes, her smile, long legs, and generous bust. Without having to speak to her, there was little doubt that they couldn't be related.

"It's fine," even though it wasn't, "I would've stayed for a month if you asked. And as much I do know about you, I think I should still do this." Blake raised her hand as an olive branch. "I'm Blake Belladonna, Yang's girlfriend."

The woman's gloved shake was firm, the Faunus wondering if she should've dropped the girlfriend moniker by its strength. "Raven Branwen, technically Yang's mother."

"I think she'd appreciate that phrasing."

"I couldn't blame her," the raven-haired woman began. "With how much resentment she's had towards me, it wouldn't shock me if Summer became Mom and Mother just so she could forget about me."

"With the way she's been acting since you met, I'm going to have to disagree with you," Blake carefully said, the conceitedness of the woman subsided as her daughter was brought up. "I didn't call you out to berate you, but Yang hasn't been the same since that day. I know you might have thought it was a private conversation between you and her, but I was able to listen in on most of it, definitely all the parts I should've respectfully walked away from. You're still her mother, whether you or her want to acknowledge that."

"You're a very keen Faunus," her mother directly remarked, Blake's eyes sharpening at the direct jab. "Don't worry, I know a lot about you, as well. Trust me, I never shook that mother responsibility completely. Whether I'd be watching from afar or have Qrow give me an update, I was morbidly curious about how Yang was doing. I'm not a heartless monster as she's painted me. I,too, have been having restless nights where I'm back on this rooftop with her."

It felt wrong that she was the only witness to Raven's guilty consideration, wishing she could show this to Yang to showcase her mother in a fairer light. "I'm sure it crossed your mind then about coming back."

"It has," she softly said, the confidant woman turning away as she dug deeper. "But look at what I did by doing so. According to you, I broke her. I knew I should've sent Qrow, or left something cryptic that you or her would find, but The White Fang had me scared. It's the first time they felt like they could overpower me, or you guys. Word circled about getting back at The Yellow Stinger, and once I got hurt, I was scrambling as cope with a shifting in tides. Your methods have made progress, but there's something bigger happening that The White Fang is playing down and forcing them to paint a target on your backs. It's why I came to her with an attitude, it could have been her next."

The Faunus stood quiet, not knowing the pain of being a mother nor could she sympathize more with Yang. But what she saw was a parent who still cared under the boastful bluster. It wasn't Yang that needed Raven, it was Raven that needed Yang. "If you come back to her with those words, I think she'll listen. Your parting words had an effect on her. She thinks you don't care, but you've kept an eye on her."

"And how do you think she'll respond when I reveal that at times in her life I was no more than ten feet away," Raven criticized herself, her voice raising with each fault.

"You'll be surprised how much honesty goes with her," the Faunus said, her tone matching the woman's. "The times where I've hurt Yang the most was because I was hiding something. It's now hitting me that it stems from you."

"And so I came here thinking that I wouldn't be lectured," Raven retorted.

"This isn't a lecture as this shouldn't be anything new. Please, I implore you to see Yang again. Come in and be as frank as you were with me. Be brutally honest with her because there's questions even Taiyang can't answer, and I know you have questions, too. You wouldn't rope Qrow in this if that weren't true. I'm not saying to come back and be a parent. I'm asking you to give a resolution only her mother can."

A gust of chilling wind whipped through the downtown, the Faunus keeping herself bundled in her girlfriend's wears as she waited for the woman's response. Blake was glad it wasn't an immediate 'no', and contemplation was reassuring, but wouldn't mind if the matriarch sped this process up. "I see why my daughter likes you. You know how to set straight a stubborn Branwen," Raven commented, a circumspect grin showing as she turned back to Blake. "I'll do it, as much it's going against my gut. Yang... Yang's deserved better, and then better was taken away. I guess I'm all that's left."

"That's more accepting than I thought I was going to get," the Faunus remarked. "How do you want this to be set up?"

"Bring her here tomorrow after eight. I'll be punctual, for once," she said, the red portal opening for her as she was taking her leave. As she stepped in, she turned back, "I know I'm the last person you have ever needed approval of, but I'm glad my daughter has someone like you. I've watched from afar and I see shades of Summer and Taiyang. That's a compliment, so you don't worry."

Before Blake could say her thanks, Raven disappeared beyond the portal, the Faunus making her way back home, preparing herself for the ruse she has to get Yang to come to the meeting. "I may have overstepped, but if she ever finds out I had a more civil conversation with Raven, I'll be in worse trouble."

*-Yang-*

"You did what?" she demanded in her fiery action.

"Yes, I know, I don't need to hear it, and you're right? Can we skip this part of the fight and go on to what's important?" the Faunus amicably proposed, her tone centered in comparison to Yang's rising temper.

"No, you don't get to skip over this. You went behind my back and talked to my mother, who I'm so glad is easily able to get chatty with anyone but me," the blonde fired back, massaging her eyes sockets as she could feel the irises filling with blood tinge.

"To be fair, nothing was particularly stated that I couldn't go out and search for Raven," the Faunus expertly spun, Yang too smart and angry to fall for that.

"Sure looks like you've been learning a lot from Weiss," she attacked. "You know you can't justify this. I shouldn't have to explicitly draw the lines of common courtesy, of trust, when it comes to personal matters. How could you backstab me like this?" The blonde huffed away, shrugging her girlfriend off as she tried to reconnect with her.

"Yes, I'm dishonest, deceptive, I snuck around, I'm a liar, and it's unfair that I've put you in a position like this, and for that, I'm sorry," her partner desperately sought forgiveness in her tone. "I said it at the beginning, you're right. On paper, this is one of the worst things I could've done to you, but I can't keep up this enabling. I'm on the boarder of being a good girlfriend and perpetuating your behavior, and I feel I'm doing the latter at this point."

Blake's plea had its effects, the woman's anger redirected to where it truly lie, back with her mother. She clasped the bridge of her nose, taking a few, deep breathes so she wouldn't be spitting fire at the one person would didn't deserve it. "I... I'd be lying if I said that this option hadn't crossed my mind, but I'd dismiss it because of the millions ways it can go wrong and then I'm back to square one. And not for nothing, but you're right too. I've... I've been like this for too long, and although it's been the option I've been rejecting, nothing else has offered relief."

The footsteps of her girlfriend came closer, the Faunus grabbing for her hand, the blonde grasping back. "I can understand wanting to avoid the road less traveled. I'm guilty of it so many times in the past. I used to run from everything, even you, if you remember," the Faunus reminded, Yang finding those memories of her girlfriend so distant they could've been another lifetime. "I'll stand by whatever decision you make, but I think you and Raven need each other. Come together as mother and daughter this once for closure."

Even with the benevolent ultimatum, Yang knew there was only one decision to make. She turned around, lazily embracing her lover. Blake tightly squeezed back as Yang buried herself in the thick, black mane, the Faunus ears fanning back saying more than her words ever could at how hard it was for Blake to do what she did. "I'll do it for you. I've put you through too much."

"As altruistic as that sounds, I need you to say you're doing this for yourself," the Faunus corrected, backing away to convey what needed to be seen, the amber eyes holding true as she spoke.

Blake had a point, she wasn't the one with mother issues. "I'll do it for me. What... what time did she say?"

"Later tonight after eight," the Faunus said. "What do you want to do until then?"

"For the first time in my life, I want to do chores," the blonde said, the statement surprising the Faunus as well. "Alone. This is part one of five-hundred of things I need to do to make up for the past months."

The Faunus smiled back, the blonde weakly putting up hers for her girlfriend. "You get a pass, but I'll leave you alone, if that's what you really want."

The blonde nodded her head, keeping her silence. Blake cradled her by the head, giving her a kiss on the forehead before departing. With the silence of her own thoughts running through her head, Yang laid down in the middle of the living room, using an arm to prop her head up as she stared at the ceiling. She sank into the carpet, the world becoming much heavier as she thought about the upcoming event.

"Where do I even start with her?"


A nervous hatred flowed through her, Yang on autopilot and followed the Faunus' lead as she strode a step-and-a-half behind. She could hear her heart beating in her ears, hating that her mother could get her this riled up. She loathed the fact she could stare a stampede of Goliaths down with zero worry, but meeting her mother was having her shake in her boots. Seemed her girlfriend caught into her vibes, the Faunus pausing to grab to by the hand, gently pulling on the blonde to walk beside her. The violet eyes held worry that her partner's shared, Yang grateful for her perceptive understanding.

Yang kept her girlfriend warm, wrapping an arm around her waist and keeping her close as they stood around waiting. She didn't have high expectations for her mother to be there at the time specified, her dad guilty of multiple times being late, but it was souring her mood as this was the last time she would give her such a courtesy. "Blake, go. I'm not going to make you freeze out here."

"I think that the mediator in all this should be present," the Faunus countered. "I won't be sitting outside for all this. I'll go home as soon as she comes."

Blake wildly rubbed her hands to create friction, Yang grabbing them and giving her breath and aura a quick heating for her girlfriend. She would never understand the stereotype of 'girl's are always cold', but it always gave her an excuse to touch Blake in the later months of the year. Blake moved her hand over the blonde's heart, the palm placing firm as she tried to relax it. Shaken visible breathes escaped her, the Faunus moving under her partner's chin as they held each other.

Just as Yang's blood was beginning to bubble after and hour of simmering, she heard the sound she heard that fateful day, her mother stepping out from behind a pillar to greet the couple. "Sorry I'm late. I had to help someone get out of a jam."

The confidence Yang usually had was more present in her mother, the red eyes not flinching as they made contact again. The blonde's body tightened, Blake pressing back to get her partner's attention. With words expressed through her eyes, the Faunus gave a kiss on the corner of her mouth before heading back home. Yang, now alone, started having second-thoughts as her mother confidently laid down how this was going to go. "I know you have questions, and so do I, but let me start off by saying sorry for last time. I should have handled it better, but getting attacked in cold blood tends to set me off."

Yang was fine with that apology, but wondered where her mother's empathy lie in the previous, more important years she should be atoning for. "And how about the last twenty-five years? I think we're missing a few other details."

Raven looked her dead in the eye, the words that came out of her left Yang aghast. "And I know this will probably set you off, but I will never apologize for my actions back then."

As her mother predicted, Yang's semblance sparked, the fire rising and the blood lust flaring in her eyes. "What did you say?"

"You heard me," her mother coldly said. Raven took a battle-ready stance, unshackling her weapon and tossing it to the floor. "I know you want to. Hit me."

The blonde hesitated for only a second, the rational part of her brain silent as she rode her anger and willingly accepted the invitation. A raging stomp picked up into a run as she slugged her arm into her mother. Expecting the usual crunch and groan of a successful hit to the gut, Yang was caught, Raven's body bending into the punch and ensnaring her by the wrist. "Are you done?"

The snide remark had the blonde bare her teeth and use her free hand for another strike, her mother trapping her expertly. "You didn't think I'd just let you hit me." The observation only goaded the blonde to sweep kick her mother from under her feet, Raven moving with her and hitting that back of her knee. Even as a seasoned fighter, Yang had to admit her mother was no slacker, the kick having it hard to get back up. As she struggled, Raven kept her in place, Yang never thinking she would stoop so low to be looking up, being chided by her mother as she effectively gridlocked her.

"You do have my eyes," she commented. With willing new-found strength, Yang broke free, not to be bested to by the one who betrayed her first. There was no trading of blows, Yang throwing everything she had at Raven, only for her to deflect, block, or counter the blonde's attacks. She's only heard stories of Team STRQ, Raven always described as the lone wolf that carried the team in tournaments. Yang may not have felt the might of her weapon being used, but she felt like she was back at Beacon with how effectively her mother fought with a handicap. The daughter's anger subsided as she was thrown to the ground again, and again, and again, efficaciously checkmated as her mother placed a boot firmly on her shoulder.

"I still don't want to believe you're Taiyang's blood. You're a much stronger fighter than he ever was, bit quick with the temper, though. Anyways, you got it out of your system?" she asked. Even with the question asked with no animosity or snark, Yang still felt like she had to fight back, trying to pry her mother's boot off her to no avail.

"Yeah. I'm done," she said defeated, Raven releasing her daughter and offering a hand up, the blonde shirking it and getting off the ground herself.

"How many times have you dreamed of getting back at me?" she asked.

"Too many to count," she deadpanned. "There, you bested me and got me to admit it. Happy?"

"This was never about proving myself, I just want you level-headed and you had a lot of deserved angst," her mother gave her forthright answer. Raven stepped into her field of vision, the red eyes calmer with the combat over. "Hit me with your real best shot."

The subtext was clear, Yang wanting to dig deeper into her than any punch could do. "How could you leave me?" she croaked out, tears welling in her eyes, wiping them quickly away as she showed her weakness. Raven's expression was as expected, her chest deflating as she let out a hurt sigh. She motioned Yang to an AC unit, the women taking a seat, choosing to gaze at the downtown's twilight than themselves.

"I don't know what you know or how Taiyang has spun it, but it wasn't an easy choice to make," Raven began. "We were young, still kids when I first met your father at Beacon. Before we were a team, I stuck with Qrow, but saw him around enough before initiation. He is a dork, a very likeable dork, but I didn't see myself with him in any capacity. But after a few close calls in the forest, and your father's glowing personality, I had a torch for him, but I wasn't the only one."

Out of all the files she dug though, apparently it wasn't all recorded, or maybe altered, so Taiyang could forget as well. Yang glanced over, not even in the pictures or video had she seen her in such visible pain. "Summer was head-over-heels for him. From the first time we met, I knew she liked him, but as we all got closer, she started opening up, pumping up Taiyang as a perfect partner. As she highlighted these qualities, I started to see them, too. It was underhanded, but I decided to give him a try, and unbeknownst to Summer's intentions, I stole him right from under her."

The woman rung her feathered skirt in her hands, the memory a trying endeavor to relive. "It wasn't hard to get your father's attention. He's no different. For some reason, at some point in everyone's life, we want someone who's 'bad'. I was Taiyang's chance to have a 'bad girl', and a few moves later, we were dating. I felt sorry for a second, but I did fall in love with Taiyang. I justified my selfish action by that aspect. Summer was too pure to try anything. I was safe from drama because I knew she stood in the corner waiting for me to mess it up. But I didn't, or I royally screwed up based on who you ask."

Raven glanced over, their eyes meeting as Yang's part in the story came along. "I'll skip the gory details, but one drunken night of unprotected sex had me pregnant with you. And I did the usual freakout, we both did. Being a parent hadn't crossed my mind, but now we were talking marriage, apartments, and starting a life together. I was still young, afraid, and after we ran through all the options..."

"I remember one you pressed really hard," Yang said, her voice still strained, but the ire was clear in the tone as she stared down her mother.

"That's... that's definitely a conversation no child is supposed to hear. If I could see the future, and know my drunken mistake would turn out half as well as you did, I wouldn't have considered it," Raven said. There was a compliment underneath the heinous action, the act becoming less vindictive as her mother continued. "I was terrified, Yang. I worked so hard to get where I was and I was great at what I did. I didn't know how I'd be as a mother juggling all of this. I ran scared, knowing freedom was a few sleepless nights and a paycheck away, but your father... you owe your life to him. I remember him sitting me down, telling me that 'it's not my accident, it's ours' and we'd 'figure this out'."

Although it hurt to hear that confirmation of her birth, she was glad it wasn't sugar-coated, Yang appreciating the honesty she knew her father would be too tenderhearted to divulge in. "And he wasn't wrong, we did figure it out, but we had help from others. Where I sought solace in training, Taiyang found his in Summer. I blamed it on the hormones at the time, telling him that they made me crazy, but I willingly sifted through your father's texts, e-mails, and eavesdropped on his and Summer's talks. I was paranoid, but my paranoia proved fruitful. I confronted him, but he wouldn't admit it to keep us together, all of us," she buttoned, her daughter understanding where she was coming from. "But I wasn't going to have it. I couldn't handle being a mother, and I wasn't going to be cheated on by him. After a long fight, I made my choice, and I left, taking only my weapon with me."

Yang suspected this from the videos she watched, but didn't feel like digging up the past anymore with Taiyang, finding him being unfaithful ancillary, but she kept the tallies of what he wanted to remember. "It wasn't long before I regret it, but my stubbornness kept me from coming back. After half a year, being headstrong diluted my pride. One night, I came back. I was outside the front door, ready to knock, when I heard laughter. The curiosity got the better of me and I peeked in, and what I saw broke me. I saw Taiyang, Summer... and you... happy."

The blonde didn't think she'd see her mother choke up, the woman showing a chink in her armor as she uncovered the rest of that night. "You were sitting on her lap, Summer holding you tight as you were all watching a movie. Taiyang had his arm around the both of you, him playing with the impressive length of hair you had for a toddler. It was like getting shot in the heart... The initial wave of anger passed as quickly as it came, and the heartbreak that came after... it wasn't just a feeling. In the relative short time I was away, Summer came in, replaced me, and everyone was better because of it."

Yang knew Summer was as Raven bluntly put, even though she felt like she was her real mother for a small portion of her life. It wasn't until Ruby was born did she suspect she was a little different. "I was always too proud to admit a loss, but that night, if I committed to what I had come to do, I would've shattered the family that was meant to be, and that included you. You deserved better than me. You deserved Summer." Yang swore herself she wouldn't get emotional in front of the woman who hurt her the most, the blonde drying her eyes as quickly as they watered. "I stomached as much as I could. As I walked away, I swore to never come back to disrupt your lives anymore, strengthening my resolve back to my original plan. That's why I left. Even though you were my daughter, even with all of my history with Taiyang, I had no just grounds to rob either of you a happy and stable home."

A hard sniffle couldn't be muffled, Yang turning away as the emotions dammed up were to much for her. "Dammit," she muttered out, doing her best to compose herself, thinking she was too old to break down about this anymore. A couple hard pats hit her shoulder, the blonde looking back to see Raven tentative in her attempt at comforting her.

"I don't know if you want me to touch you. This is all new..." she trailed off.

"I still want to hate you," Yang settled herself enough to speak. "All my life, I assumed you left and didn't care. Secretly, tonight, I wanted validation in my resentment towards you. But now that I know this... I can't... I can't and I want nothing more than to do so."

"Then hate me," Raven raised her voice. "I did something unforgivable. Don't let my sob story overlook the last twenty-five years. When I came here, I didn't expect that to change, and it shouldn't. At the end of the day, I still hurt you."

Yang didn't see an angle for her mother's reasoning, the request confusing, but she would take it at its face value. "You did, but... I did have a great childhood because of Summer... because of what you did. I'm not saying it was all sunshine and happiness, but I like who I am and where I am."

"Guess you can say it was a lesser of two evils, then. I highly doubt having me around would've shaped you into such a well-rounded individual, your father would have more than just an ulcer. and I have a feeling Ruby would have been a byproduct of an affair," she dryly joked, the blonde fine with seeing the humor after all these years.

"So, you know about Ruby? What else has Qrow kept you up to date with?" the daughter clued in.

"A lot, definitely more than you would think," she started off. "There's Taiyang becoming headmaster, you graduating Beacon, Zwei is a dog that I never would've agreed to. But then there's what I was able to dig up, directly or indirectly. There's all the run-ins with The White Fang, there's the nights you went out searching for me, but a lot of your time has been spent with your girlfriend."

"You've been watching me?" Yang inquired.

"I wouldn't say watching, more like curiously observing when the opportunity arose," Raven clarified. "She's... she's something else, your girlfriend. Blake, is it?" she asked, the blonde nodding her head. "I do know what spell you put on her to get her to find me, and it's love. I may have talked with her once, but Blake cares immensely for you. It practically bled from her when she spoke to me. The times I've seen you two out, it's obvious how happy you two make each other. It mirrors Taiyang and Summer's relationship."

"What about yours and Dad's?"

"If you two have a plentiful sex life, then you have the one standout component that had us last as long as we did," she candidly said. It was as uncomfortable as it was reassuring. "I know I'm the last person to give relationship advice, but I don't think you'll find better."

Yang never sought her mother's approval, that concept she let go years ago, but hearing her praise her girlfriend was wholly more satisfying than she imagined. "Yeah. Blake's... something else," she trailed off in marvel of her partner, the blonde let in a stunned silence as she thought of the seemingly infinite qualities she has to go home and cherish.

"Hey," Raven said as she broke her out of her trance, "I'm sure you got other questions, but mind if I get into what I came here to say last time?"

With the back story of her birth fully detailed, Yang found it fair for her mother to acquiesce

a request. "Not at all, but I thought it was clear. The White Fang want me dead and I should protect myself and my loved ones, and stop it," the blonde recounted.

"Yes, but I didn't tell you what to be protected from," her mother lead on. "It's what scared me the most, the reason why I wanted you to stop because I haven't seen anything like this. From what I can tell, The White Fang have figured out how to control Grimm, and if I'm right, figured out a way to produce them."

A chill ran through her, the idea of an army controlling another army was too much for a kingdom to handle. "What? How?"

"I don't know, but there's only one other way Grimm are produced, dragon hearts. If they figured out a way to tame or harness that power, I don't see how the world as we know it survives. The fact of the matter is The Yellow Stinger can aid Vale and potentially stave off their plan. It's why I wanted you to stop. If you keep poking, they're going to come for you first and if one kingdom goes dark, the rest will follow. You cannot falter. The world isn't forgiving to the weak," Raven said, the dark omen of the end of the world upon them as the information settled in.

A hulking silence carried between them, Yang running down the scenarios of how The White Fang could pull something of that scale off. The quiet was heavy along with the feelings, but the blonde needed to say what she wanted lest her mother disappear on her again. "Raven," she meekly started, "I don't forgive you, but based on what you said, you probably wouldn't let me. However, I respect you being as honest as you were. I don't think Dad would've ever been so straight with me. He'll always see me as the little girl going beyond the boarder with Ruby and dodging another close call."

"Taiyang was always a little soft," she concurred. "An endearing, but constantly nagging quality of his. Not to monopolize all the credit, but you could've taken the smarter road and not have to deal with me again."

"I have a feeling this was the only road, that and I think Blake would've been dejected if I did anything otherwise," Yang said, cuing up her next question for her mother.


Yang warmly smiled on the way back home, her cheeks starting to hurt as she reached the door. Many more questions were asked and answered, the blonde grateful for this encounter. She didn't expect her mother to have a litany of questions for her, but happily gave up the information. It was nice to hear how much she wanted to know about Blake. She couldn't tell if it was motherly curiosity of whom her daughter was dating or just another way to fill time, but the blonde could go on about who her Faunus was and what she means to her.

After the first yawn, Yang called it quits, the day already longer with the emotional drainage of it all. She took Raven's answer of 'you were better off when I wasn't around' to her question of whether or not she'd contact her, her gut telling her she would see her again, hopefully on better circumstances. With not knowing how to end a reunion as such, Yang was fine with a nod acknowledging that this ended well, her mother doing as such as she disappeared into the portal.

The house was quiet, the blonde muffled slinging off her wears and getting ready for bed. She creaked open the bedroom door, Blake knocked out on their bed already. It was odd at first to see her in her regular clothing, but as the evidence piled up, Yang was further smitten by her girlfriend. With boots at the foot of the bed and her arm reached across her nightstand gripping her scroll, Yang knew she was ready at any time to get up and be by her side.

After a quick change into her pajamas, Yang hopped in behind her, snugly spooning her lover. A shift in the weight scared her as Blake turned around, her lazy embrace tightening around the blonde as she was stirred awake. The Faunus nestled into the crook of Yang's neck, the blonde placing her chin over her black mane after a kiss, the ears flattening from the tender act. No words were needed, Blake resting her palm over her partner's steady heart and let the beat lull her back to sleep. "Thank you, Blake. I'm ready."