HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

Disclaimer: All Characters belong to Rooster Teeth Productions

Edited by ToxicExitoc

UPLOAD UPDATE IN THE END NOTES!

Chapter 46 - Family Talks 2

Yang Xiao Long

"AHHH! STOP!"

As the streak of red darted away from her, Yang let out a small chuckle and took a step towards the cringing girl and opened her hands. The brown house spider, that was almost the size of her palm, quickly scurried to her fingertips, but she effortlessly caught it. Ruby had hated spiders for her whole life, and though Yang was always quick to get rid of them for her, it was hardly very sisterly of her, to not tease her sister a little first.

"Why? He just wants a hug," Yang laughed and held her hands out a further, Ruby jumping backwards. "That's why he had so many arms."

"Noooo, get it awaaaay!" Ruby squealed, her hand reaching behind her to grab one of Zwei's discarded toys from the desk that she immediately threw at Yang.

Dodging it with another laugh, Yang gave the redhead a small shrug walked to a nearby window. Pulling it open, she rested her hand against the wall and allowed the spider to crawl away. Though she had just killed them for the first few years of doing it, eventually she had stopped. Though she was happy to eat a steak, or any meat for that matter, the idea of killing such a small creature, simply for the act of it being there, had started to make her feel sad. So whenever she could, she would always place them safely outside, despite knowing they would find their way back in.

"Cheers, Spider Buddy," Yang said cheerfully as the small arachnid scurried along the bricks. Turning back to her sister, she showed her hands and saw Ruby let out a relieved sigh and give her a firm pout.

"Thank you."

"Mhm," Yang hummed in return and made her way to the top of the stairs. "Now hurry up and take your shower. Every second wasted is another second someone could take something good."

Slowing her pace as Ruby walked towards her, she met her sister's silver eyes and felt a smirk take over her face. Once the girl was close enough, Yang cupped her hands and made the motion to throw something at her. The scream that Ruby released echoed through the house, quickly followed by Yang's raucous laughter as she dodged yet another thrown toy and ran down the stairs.

Jumping past the last three step, she landed gracefully and came face to face with her father. Things had been tense for the past week, yet again, but the two were still on speaking terms, and he had not let himself go this time. He had still been rather secretive however, but Yang had been trying what Blake had said. Though she made sure to remind him every day that the subject was not forgotten, she wasn't pushing him, instead allowing him to think things through.

It was working so far. The tension had eased a little and they were able to hold a conversation, and Tai seemed to genuinely be thinking about what she'd said. When she told him yesterday that she was meeting Raven again, he had told her that despite his caution, he thought it was good she was willing to give Raven a chance. She had also overheard him on the phone to his sponsor, but she never liked to pry into those conversations and quickly left. So giving the man before her a smile as he picked up the toy, Yang made her way to the kitchen.

"I'm making bacon," she said as she entered the living room, flicking the television on.

As it loaded up and switched to the last channel, a music station that Yang liked, she moved into the kitchen and set about making breakfast. In minutes, the smell of cooking bacon filled the house and as it mixed with the fast paced rock music floating through from the living room, Yang breathed out a small, contented sigh. It was moments like those that easily made her forget all the family troubles. There was no tension, no arguing, no secrets, just the feeling of being surrounded by everything she loved.

The only thing missing is Weiss, she thought to herself with a sigh, though not a sad one. Sure their communication was at an all time low, with last night being completely without a phone call and the usual morning hello being absent too, but she understood why. Weiss had told her about the seemingly impossible task that her father had set her, and she knew how important it was she succeeded. However, Yang was still sending her messages where she could to show her support and make sure Weiss wasn't running herself ragged again.

"Your sister is going to get you back one day," Said a voice from behind her and Yang looked over her shoulder to see her father sitting down at the table. "You know that, right?"

"Pfft," Yang breathed and flipped the bacon over. "She can't pick up anything with more than four legs, she would never go near a scorpion."

"That's a fair point," he chuckled and ran a hand through his scraggy, blonde hair. "So, you two are going shopping for the day?"

"Mhm," Yang hummed, reaching for the eggs and cracking one over the second frying pan. "She should be back around four-ish. If she doesn't go and bother Blake."

"And you're going to meet Raven at the food court?"

Yang could hear the caution in his voice as he asked.

"Yeah," She replied with a small nod. "Do you need me to pick anything up while I'm in town?"

"A new bulb for the bathroom," he said, though Yang definitely got the sense it was the thing furthest from his mind. "So uhh… A second meeting so soon. I take it things are going well?"

Turning to look at her father properly, she saw his blue eyes glancing down at the table where his thumbs were twiddling. Worrying that he had changed his mind about her getting to know Raven and no longer considered it a good thing, Yang raised an eyebrow.

"You said yesterday that you thought it was a go…"

"I still do," He interrupted her and looked up from the table. "I'm just... asking."

"Oh."

Returning to the almost finished food, she shoved some bread in the toaster and pulled a plate from the cupboard.

"It's going… okay," Yang said, unsure how to describe it properly. She was however glad that Tai had brought the conversation up, and decided that since he had done it, she was okay to go a little deeper. "She seems different to how you said she was though."

"How so?"

"Well, you always said she was complicated, that she was always reserved," Yang shrugged and placed all the food on the plate. Turning everything off, she walked over to the table and sat down, placing the plate between then with two sets of cutlery. "But she hasn't been like that. Not with me, At least."

"Or maybe she has and you just aren't recognising it?" Tai questioned, picking up a slice of bacon. The words weren't said with any judgement, but there was a certain belief in his voice that made her raise her eyebrows. "I'm not saying she's hiding anything, I don't know her well enough to say that, not anymore, but the Raven I knew was never this straightforward. She's been gone for eighteen years and now wants to get to know you. She is likely putting her best foot forward right now."

"Or maybe she has changed?" Yang countered, unable to keep the hope from her voice. She actually liked that Raven was being so forward with her.

"Maybe," Tai hummed and swallowed his mouthful. "I'm not trying to make you doubt anything, just please be careful. I know how much this means to you, and I don't want you hurt."

"I know," Yang nodded, picking up a knife and cutting the egg so that the yolk spilled over the bacon. "So… are you… Are you willing to talk about her now?"

Tai's blue eyes locked onto hers. They looked tired from his long shifts at work, and though it had been years, she could still see that cloud in his eyes from his desire for alcohol. With how tired they looked, she half expected him to say no, but was surprised when he gave a slow nod of his head. It was subtle, but she saw it nonetheless.

"As adults," he said after a minute. "So no shouting or arguing. You hear me out, I hear you out. Agreed?"

Without hesitation, Yang gave him a firm nod and sat up straight in her chair. Receiving a defeated sigh from the man, she picked up her own piece of bacon and waited patiently.

"I'll skip the finer details as Raven explained them anyway," he said slowly, his voice cautious. "But the first time I kissed Summer, it was a mistake. Me and Raven had just had a fight over something stupid that even I don't remember, but she broke up with me, not for the first time, and Summer found me drunk in the park. What happened is hazy, but I know I initiated it and she slapped me. Hard enough to sober me up. Once I was in my right mind again, I apologised and we agreed to write it off as a stupid, drunk mistake. Also not my first."

"But I guess those things are easier to say than do. Stupid teen hormones, desperation, whatever it was, that kiss triggered something. Me and Summer had been friends since kindergarten and I had never thought of it as something more, but after it had happened, it was all I could think about. Her too. But I also loved Raven at the time, despite all our break ups. So I made the stupid decision of trying for both. Summer hated it, always said she couldn't go behind Raven's back anymore and that it was the last time, but it never was. That was my fault."

"Then years later when it started happening again, and we were found out, Summer had had enough. She was in tears when she told me to choose, not just because we were found out, but because she was actively hurting her friend. She couldn't do it anymore. We couldn't stay away from each other, and she couldn't be the other woman either. That was when I made my biggest mistake. All the others are miniscule compared to what I did that day."

"Choosing Raven was a mistake?" Yang asked, confused as to how that was the biggest mistake he had made in the situation.

"Yes," He said simply, though regret passed over his eyes. "I loved Summer more, almost every part of me screamed to pick her. But you were in the picture by that point and I was scared what picking her would do. But Raven saw through it anyway and things turned worse. She took you and ran, and I've only seen her a couple of times since, but I know her life has been a mess ever since. I was a coward, and she deserved far better than I ever gave her. But more than anything, I shouldn't have lied to her."

"You shouldn't have cheated, either," Yang said firmly, trying to keep the judgement from her voice. "None of it would have happened if you had just chosen back in high school."

"That's true," Tai said with a nod, but something else entered his voice. Something Yang instantly recognised as resolve. "But, and you may hate me for this and you probably should, I'm not sorry that I did cheat."

That admission hit Yang like a truck. Taken aback, she simply stared at her father. Had he really just admitted to not being sorry to cheating on Raven? To not being sorry he caused her so much pain?

"Wh-What?"

"You want me to treat you as an adult," he said with a sigh. "And part of being an adult is accepting things about yourself."

"I regret so much of how I treated Raven. The cheating, the lying, the cowardice; but I cannot be sorry that they happened."

"Why?"

"Because staying with Raven gave me you," he said with a shake of his head. "And everything else that happened with Summer gave us Ruby. I know this might make me a monster in your eyes, but while I have failed at being a father in so many ways, I would rather go to my grave before I think about taking anything back that gave me you two. You and Ruby are my world, and I cannot be sorry for anything that brought you into it."

"That's…"

Yang cut herself off, unsure what to say. How did she reply to that? Those were her father's feelings. That was how much he cared for them, so much so that he was willing to accept the worst part of himself and take the consequences for his actions. However, no matter how much she appreciated the words, the idea of someone being fine with ruining a life just for her didn't sit well with her.

"... Wrong."

"I know," He said with a nod, though there was no shame there. "You will understand one day when you are a parent, Yang. I know you feel very strongly about Ruby, but when you actually have a child, you will know what it means to be willing to sacrifice everything for your child without a second thought. For you and Ruby, I will accept that I did something unforgivable, because that means you were brought into this world, whether you still talk to me or not."

"I…"

Yang looked down at the table, unable to maintain eye contact with her father anymore. Despite all of their issues, she had always thought of him as a good man at heart. He always tried to do his best by people, to treat them with respect, and though he had made many mistakes, those values had always been there. But what he had just said, what Raven had revealed, they had shaken her. Like Blake worried about the solidity of her parent's relationship, Yang now worried that her father wasn't the good man she thought he was. And had he not just admitted as such?

He had. He'd said he can't be sorry for doing it, for ruining a life he knew was fragile. If he could do that, what else had he done? Those values he instilled in her of treating people right and always working to better yourself, had they all been lies?

"I didn't want to admit that to you," he said sadly. That time there was remorse in his voice. "Because I am pretty sure I know what happens next. But you are right that you deserve the truth, and now you have it. So if that is what you need to do, then I won't fight it."

Yang knew what he meant, as it wouldn't be the first time. However, her mind was still running through everything, thinking on her whole life. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do anymore. As she thought, she heard Tai stand from his chair and make his way to the door. From her peripheral, she saw him stop and turn to look back at her.

"But please remember that I love you, Yang," He said with a heavy sigh. "No matter what happens."

With those words, he left. Left her to her thoughts, to her doubts and uncertainties. Why was that what it always came back to? Why could her life never be simple? A good father, a mother who hadn't left, one who hadn't died, why couldn't she have those things? Was the world really keen on shattering everything she had? Was Weiss next? Or Ruby? Or Blake? How much more could be taken from her? And was anything safe?

Questions. All she had were questions with no answers. It was all she had had for her whole life, and just as it always did, the anger welled inside her. A flick of the wrist was all it took for the half full plate on the table to be sent flying towards the wall where it shattered on impact, the sharp sound audible even over the music.

"Yang?"

The soft voice caught her attention, and she looked up to see her sister. Her hair was still damp from the shower and her eyes were wide, glancing back and forth between her and the mess that Yang had made. Glancing into those silver eyes, she thought on her father's words. He wasn't sorry he hurt Raven because he had Ruby. The girl from another relationship that, to him, validated everything he'd done.

As she stood, Yang saw Ruby shrink a little. Yang knew the girl hated when she was angry, something about it unsettled her, so she wasn't surprised to see the young redhead grew increasingly nervous as Yang walked to the door.

But Yang wouldn't settle for it. Never would she allow Ruby to feel like she herself did. Never would Ruby doubt the person she loved, so the moment Yang was in arms reach, she pulled her sister into a tight hug. Through all her anger at what her father's words had caused, she would never blame Ruby's existence for them, she could never blame her. Instead she held there for a couple of minutes, Ruby's quietly accepting the hug.

Finally, after a couple of minutes, Yang pulled away and looked down at her sister. With one of the most forced smiles of her life, she gave her sister a light poke to the forehead.

"Time to go shopping, Rubes."

"I can't believe you made me buy a dress," Ruby groaned as they exited the store, a couple of bags in their hands. "Especially after I showed you that jacket."

"A jacket I can't afford," Yang said with a raised eyebrow to the younger girl.

"That's not my fault."

"Not my fault you have a dance coming up either."

"But you're the one making me go."

"Yup," she replied firmly, giving her sister a small shoulder bump.

Receiving another groan from the redhead, Yang let the silence between them continue as they walked to the food court. Having fun with her sister was always a surefire way to cheer herself up, but as they made their way down the busy hallway, she knew it wasn't working like it normally did. Whenever she was alone for more than a minute while Ruby tried on clothes, or while she herself tried on clothes, her mind would drift back to that morning's conversation.

She still wasn't sure how she felt. On one hand, she was grateful Tai had finally told her the truth and, at the very least, admitted that what he had done was wrong; but on the other, he had shattered everything she had believed of him with one simple admission. She still remembered that it had been Tai who pushed her into boxing after an altercation at school. Some students had taken to throwing magnets at her during science class in hopes that they would stick to her braces, and though she'd kept her cool for a while, she eventually snapped and got into a fight that left them both with broken noses.

Tai had been furious with her when they had called him in. She may not have always had the physique she did now, but she had always been rather sporty and that made her naturally stronger. He had scolded her for at least an hour when they got home, about how she was lucky not to be expelled, how anger didn't justify violence towards those weaker than her. But mostly he had been angry that she wasn't sorry about hurting them.

"You are stronger than them, Yang," He'd said angrily, though Yang remembered she was also just as angry at the time. "And more importantly, you are better than them because you know right from wrong. But not when you are like this."

After that argument, he had signed her up for boxing classes. Twice a week in hopes that it would focus her temper into something more productive, and even reduce it all together. And it had worked. Just like her art and her cooking, boxing clicked with her instantly. It quickly felt like something she was born to do, and now she guessed that was because she literally had boxing in her genes.

After her first meeting with Raven, she had looked up her grandfather and discovered he actually won a few tournaments in his day. There was nothing major and he wasn't known worldwide, but he had blazed quite the trail through the lower professional scene and people seemed to think he was a natural who was destined to go the distance. But then he dropped off the face of Remnant, for seemingly no reason. No-one knew why, but from the dates of the papers it seemed to be roughly forty years ago. The same time Raven and Qrow were likely born. Raven had also mentioned an injury, but she hadn't been able to find anything about that in the articles.

"Yang?" Ruby's broke the silence and drew her from her thoughts. Looking to her side, she saw Ruby watching her carefully, her silver eyes shining with worry. "Are you okay? You keep drifting off."

"Sorry," she breathed out with a small smile. Fortunately it didn't feel as forced as the one she had given that morning. "Just stuff on my mind, is all."

"Dad?" She asked carefully. "Or Raven?"

"Both." She wasn't going to lie to Ruby. "Just… I don't know really know if either of them are who I thought they were."

Ruby stayed silent for a moment. Yang knew the girl had overheard part of the conversation, but she wasn't sure how much. Turning the corner and seeing the food court, she wondered if the girl had overheard enough to know about the affair. While she wasn't going to lie to her, she knew how much Summer meant to Ruby. As much as Yang loved Summer, and still did, Ruby practically revered her. Yang guessed it came with never really knowing her, and therefore wanting to believe she was perfect.

"Dad is right, isn't he," Ruby asked sadly, drawing Yang's attention. "You're going to do it again?"

"I don't know, Rubes," Yang replied honestly as she looked at the ground, as she really wasn't sure. "Would… Would you be mad at me if I did?"

"No," Ruby head shook after a second of thought. "I don't want you to, but I would understand."

Giving her sister a brief look to see a comforting smile on the girl's face, Yang breathed out a sigh of relief and slung an arm around her shoulders.

"I'm still not sure what I'm gonna do, Rubes," she admitted and pulled the girl closer to herself. "Except buy you that party-sized cookie you're always eyeing."

Though she was clearly still worried, Yang saw a small smile pull at her sister's lips. Once they arrived at the door to the food court, Yang pulled them open and pushed her sister lightly inside.

The multiple smells of food hit Yang like a truck, and she actually found it rather horrible. Not unbearably so, but the mix wasn't a good one. The smells of cooking fish and beef, fries and rice, and so many other things all joined together to create a smell that made her nose crinkle. She loved the smell of spices delicately blending together, of food that complimented each other. Thankfully, while horrible, it wasn't bad enough that she couldn't deal with it and they quickly made their was over to the small baked goods stand.

As the walked, Yang scanned the crowd. The meeting with Raven was in less than ten minutes so she doubted the woman would be there just yet, but she looked anyway. Taking almost a minute to look at all the couples and business men and women while Ruby ordered her cookie, she was almost ready to say the woman wasn't there yet when her eyes fell on a head of pitch-black hair. The moment she saw it, Yang became aware of the dark red eyes that were looking her way; but they weren't looking at her, they were looking at Ruby.

She thought Ruby would have already left by the time the woman arrived, but she should have known it was a foolish thought. It just wasn't her day after all. A small tap on her shoulder caught her attention and she turned to see the woman at the register holding a cookie about the size of her chest and waiting to get paid.

"Oh, sorry," Yang said, pulling a Lien card from her pocket and handing it over. "Keep the change."

After Ruby accepted the cookie, they both turned around and Yang saw Raven was still staring at them.

"Is that her?" Ruby asked, her looking directly at the woman. "She looks just like you."

"Yeah," She replied with a nod. "You should probably head home or something. We're not really at the whole 'meeting the family' part yet."

"Oh, that makes sense," Ruby said with a nod and turned away.

As the small redhead gave her a coy smile, Yang pulled her into a one armed hug for a couple of seconds before pulling away. "I'll see you at home, later."

"Have fun," Ruby said as she walked away.

Once Ruby made her way through the doors, Yang turned back to Raven and saw that the woman was still looking at the entryway. Clearly introducing her to Ruby was going to be more complicated than she thought. However, one the door was shut and Ruby was out of sight, the red eyes flicked back in her direction and Yang let out a sigh as she made her way over to her.

As she approached the table that the woman was sat at with a large tray of food in front of her, she noticed the woman was wearing a top that exposed her a good portion of her chest. The tattoo she had only seen a hint of before was on full display and the closer Yang got, the easier it was to make out. Two black birds, and crow and a raven, sat on a branch. The larger of them had bright red eyes and its wings were spread wide, while the smaller one had duller eyes and sat behind it. The meaning behind it was obvious, and from the heavily faded lines it was clearly very old.

"Hi," Yang said awkwardly when she finally reached the table and slowly sat down.

"Hello," Raven replied, something in her voice sounding off. Though Yang was pretty certain she knew what had caused it. "How are you?"

"I'm…"

Yang didn't know what to say. She had promised to herself that she would be honest with Raven since the woman was always honest with her, but did she really tell the woman about her doubts? They weren't so close yet that she was willing to bare her soul to her.

"From that look, I'm guessing not very good," the woman said before Yang could talk. "This can be postponed if you want?"

"No," Yang answered with a firm shake of her head. "I'm fine. And you?"

"I'm fine," Raven said loftily. "Though seeing what could pass as a clone of my best… former best friend is not what I expected to see today."

"Sorry, I wasn't expecting you to be here early."

"It's okay."

There was a tension in the air. A tension that made Yang uneasy. From the way Raven was sitting up straight, it was clear she was a little on edge herself. Despite living with her father for her whole life, she still couldn't imagine what it felt for him and Raven to see Ruby. However, just like her words about Summer always being her mom, Yang knew there was another thing she had to make clear.

"Ruby is important to me," Yang said, keeping her voice even so that Raven knew she was serious. "The most important thing to me."

Scarlet eyes locked onto hers and Yang could feel her searching for something. She had no idea what Raven was looking for, but she made sure to hold the gaze. What felt like a minute passed before the older woman looked away and gave a short nod while pushing the tray on food that was on the table to the middle.

"Understood," She said stiffly, and picked up some fries. "But she isn't to me. I want a relationship with you. Not them."

"Having a relationship with me means you will know her," Yang said stubbornly. "That is not up for debate."

Raven's eyes hardened at her words and Yang felt fear run through her that the woman might walk away. But if she did, then so be it. Ruby was a non-negotiable thing in her life. If the choice was between a relationship with Ruby or a relationship with Raven, then there would be no choice at all. Clearly the woman saw that and let out a heavy sigh.

"I do not want a relationship with her, Yang."

Without hesitation, Yang stood and looked down at the woman. It pained her to do so, as she genuinely did want a relationship with her, but she needed to show how important a point this was for her. "Then we're don…"

"But…" Raven cut her off quickly and raised a hand. The word caused Yang to pause and raise an eyebrow at the woman. "I do want a relationship with you. If dealing with her presence is what I have to do, then I will. So long as you understand that it will likely never be anything more than be me tolerating it for you."

Staring back at her for a minute, Yang stayed firm. Finally, she gave a nod and sat back down.

"I'm not expecting you to care about her in the way you did Summer," She admitted, picking up some fries herself. "I don't even expect you to care for her. But my dad once made the mistake of lying to you, and it's a mistake I won't repeat. I don't care what, or who, I have to lose, or how painful it is to do it, I will always choose Ruby."

"I won't be making you choose, Yang," Raven said, her eyes looking on to hers. "But you are right that I will likely never care for the girl."

"I can deal with that," Yang said finally, placing the fries into her mouth.

"Good," Raven hummed, pulling one of the burgers towards herself. "And thank you. I appreciate the honesty."

"You have been honest with me," Yang said slowly, reaching out for a burger of her own. "I understand how you feel though. It's not like I am expecting you to meet me at the house while she is there. But she will be there for important events."

"Then, as I intend to be there for them too, I will learn to deal with that."

The two looked at each other again and let the understanding settle in. Yang believe the woman's words about likely never caring for Ruby, but it was clear she care about the relationship between them enough to honor her word. So letting her body relax, Yang slumped back in her chair and bit into her food.

"So…" Raven said, her own voice sounding a little more relaxed too. "How is the progress on your bike coming along?"

Laying on her bed as she thought about her day, Yang rolled to her side to see that it was almost two in the morning. From the discussion she had with her father to the meeting with Raven, it had probably been the hardest she'd had in a while.

She still wasn't sure how she felt about Tai's admission. She understood that he simply cared for them that much; but at the same time, she couldn't agree with his position. Being sorry it happened wouldn't change anything, both she and Ruby would still be here. Him being sorry for his actions also didn't mean he would be sorry they were born. Was there something else? She was willing to belief what he hold told her about the affair was the truth, but no matter how much she tried she just couldn't help think there was something more to why he thought that way.

Of course, she could be wrong. Or she could be right and Tai didn't know himself. Raven wasn't able to offer any insight either.

During the meeting they talked about plenty of things. Yang's bike, how it was living in Mistral, and what it was like to be back in Vale, along with what her work was like. With the history talked about and out of the way for the most part, the conversation felt a lot easier. She was able to relax more, and so was Raven. She had even heard Raven laugh when Yang had talked about how she accidentally sprayed herself in the face with fluid while fixing her bike. The sound had been weird, almost like it was something the woman wasn't used to doing. Though Yang suspected she wasn't.

However, when the woman had asked about how other things were such as Weiss, or White as Raven knew her, and things at home, they had both stiffened. Yang still didn't like lying about Weiss, not when Raven so clearly valued honesty, but it was another thing she simply couldn't tell her yet. Raven had stiffened up when Yang told her what Tai said.

It was an awkward talk, and Raven clearly didn't enjoy it, but Yang was already lying about one thing and she hoped the woman might be able to provide some insight from what she knew of him. The result was the opposite though. Once she had finished telling her what Tai said, she had stiffened just as much as Yang did when lying about Weiss, and had even snapped a little too little harshly at a roaming server for getting their order wrong. Yang had been quick to tell her to apologise, but the conversation from that point just felt off.

With the relaxed mood broken, they had ultimately decided to call it once they were done eating and after a quick goodbye and a promise there would be another meeting, Yang made her way home.

It was on the way home that once again that Yang found herself disturbed again. She wasn't taking the quickest route home, instead she found herself taking a route that added at least half an hour to the walk. At one point she even realised she was walking the opposite direction. The worst was when she finally made it to her street, where she had spent almost an hour sat at the bus stop at the end of the road. Things like that had happened before, the longer route, the desire to not go home, and they almost always led to the same thing. But she was trying to not do that because she didn't know if it would help this time.

However, as she finally made her way into the house and saw her father, she knew it would happen. She only met his eyes once, but quickly realised she couldn't look at him. He was her dad, but with what she thought of him broken, he looked like a stranger. She still loved him, he was still her father, but she knew then what her decision would be. Though it wasn't until that moment, at half past two in the morning that the defeat finally took her and she had to admit to herself what Tai and Ruby already knew that morning.

I can't stay here.

She couldn't stay. She couldn't look at Tai everyday and try to work things out. She needed space, a place away from him to think. But where? Every time she left before, she had stayed at Blake's, but that was not an option this time as Ilia was there, and Yang refused to put Kali and Ghira out like that. The rest of her friends stayed at the college dorms. There was Raven, but that was far more than she was ready for, and Yang didn't know if Raven was either. Thankfully there was one person. One person who Yang knew would help.

Weiss.

She hated to do it as the girl was always really busy and had a meeting tomorrow, and she really didn't want to wake her up, but she had made a promise to call if she ever needed something. So as she lifted herself off her bed and made her way to her closet to pack a rucksack for the morning, Yang picked up her Scroll and called her girlfriend.

UPLOAD UPDATE!

I will be quick. Due to the holidays and the fact that I really, really want to get the 5 day rotation with How It Feels going again as having two stories being edited so close together puts a lot of stress on Toxic, this story will next be updated on the 4th of January. Sorry that you will have to wait a while longer, but its something I feel needs to be done. The next chapter is the first of a two-parter though, and both parts are quite long.

A/N

Soooo, that happened xD This chapter was really necessary as it now puts Yang into the position I need her to be. There is a quick part I want to touch on though, and that is Tai. I know he's comes across really badly to some of you in this arc, but I'm really not trying to paint him that way. Maybe this is just something I have screwed up in the writing, but I really want it to be clear that he isn't a bad guy, he has just made a lot of mistakes. I normally don't outline what I am doing with my characters in these notes, but I felt I needed to clear that up as there is a bunch coming there.

Another thing I want to talk about is a comment I got, and really appreciate, saying there are a lot of plot points going on right now. I agree here and this is somewhat purposeful to show everyone has a lot going on in their lives, and not just what the story is about. I just wanted to promise that all these plot points are planned out and are going to converge, and all of that will begin to happen after the upcoming Ironwood meeting. I am currently writing chapter 50, and that meeting with Ironwood will be Chapter 52, so please just hang on a little longer. That was just another thing I wanted to clear up.

REVIEWS

timrocks99 - Haha, glad you enjoyed the chapter. I'm hoping that was a positive comment as I suck at understanding the context sometimes xD

crazyringo - Thank you :) I'm really happy you liked the Ruby POV. It was a very fun chapter to write and to introduce a few random characters xD It also allowed me to show a little of what I have planned for Ruby, and who knows, maybe Penny will come back into the story in the future :P I'm really glad you liked the Weiss scene too :) It was originally going to be Watts showing her around as he is super fun to write and he was going to be a real condescending dick xD but I decided against it. But Ruby and Jacques meeting very well might happen in the future :P But I am glad you enjoyed and hopefully this one is good too :)

Zoro50 - I'm glad you enjoyed :) I really try not to show Ruby as being completely inept xD But I do like to keep the awkwardness and have her somewhat struggle. By no means does she always need the help, but there are definitely area's that she struggles in more than others. She does think fast though xD I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter though and I hope some of the Ruby/Yang stuff here is good for you too :)