RWBY (c) RoosterTeeth

Rose Above The Clouds

The Crow and The Rose

Summer couldn't sleep. But what else was new?

At the same time, she couldn't really complain when she woke up outside the cold clinical hospital room.

Instead of that sterile place that smelt of antiseptics and bleach, she woke up in a dark room and was greeted by the scent of the forest canopy, aftershave and coffee. Beams of moonlight spilt into the apartment from the gap between the partially drawn curtains, and beyond was a magnificent view of twinkling stars dotting the night sky.

It gave her half-asleep brain took a second to process her surroundings and her heart fluttered in panic. But traces of the familiar and the comfortable littered the room, quelling the fear before it took root.

Qrow's scythe Harbinger leaned against the wall by the bedroom door. Her twin scythes Wax and Wane set beside it. Her combat gear sat on the dresser, folded neatly beside the haphazard pile Qrow had sloppily dumped his in. The rest of the evening came back to her; after they'd finished their evening training session, Qrow had offered her a home cooked meal after she took a shower.

When Summer left on that damned mission years ago, she recalled his skills were… dubious at best when it came to the culinary arts. Something she teased him about, earning an irritated grumble.

"Be honest with me: is this a wolf thing or do you just take sheer delight in being an absolute brat at all times?" Qrow asked her, shooting her glares every time she played up her displeasure at his cooking.

"You love it, don't lie." She teased back and a wry eyeroll was her response.

Despite that, Summer had found herself pleasantly surprised by his competency. And they'd enjoyed the rest of their evening together.

Evidenced by the pile of blankets crumpled on the lounge and a pair of chocolate crested mugs that sat empty on the coffee table. They'd idly skimmed through the local entertainment channels. Those were always a wash, especially in Atlas.

And then... Summer was sure she fell asleep on the couch. Evidently, Qrow had carried her to the bed before clocking out himself.

She lifted her face from her pillow - Qrow's arm as it turned out and rolled over to observe her husband's scruffy profile. His chest rising and falling in time with his gentle breathing. He looked so… content. At peace, and her heart stirred to see him so.

How long had it been since Summer woke up without breaking out in a cold sweat? Having to pull herself from the brink of a nightmare? Or screaming in such a frenzy the orderlies had to rush in and sedate her? How long had it been since she woke up safely in the warm arms of the man she loved?

How dearly she wished she could linger in this moment forever, to enjoy the simple pleasure of being in this moment. But troubles gnawed at her thoughts, insistent on robbing her of this peace.

Carefully, with the grace and care of a thief stealing into the night, Summer extracted herself from his arms and the bed. The absence of heat hit her, but she adjusted quickly padding to the dresser where she picked through her belongings. Inside her pouch was a sealed yellowed envelope with a neat script written on the front. Just one word written by a long-dead hand.

'Summer'.

Just seeing this letter and knowing of its existence felt like a knife through the heart. Guilt and dismay ate at Summer's core.

Sighing mutely, Summer held it in her hands as if it were the more delicate thing in the world and took it with her into the next room.

In the entry way was the kitchen and dinner table, and in the nook at the far corner was a desk. One with an inbuilt holo-screen and computer interface.

Quiet as a shadow, Summer made her way over and turned the device on, waiting for it to load while reverently placing the ancient letter on the desk beside her. She typed a few keys into the holographic keyboard and the screen took her directly to the news archives. She punched in more commands into the keyboard, bringing up ancient news reports all the way back to some twenty five years ago.

Reading each one of them felt like the knife in her heart was twisting. And regret weighed heavily on her mind. The front page of the oldest showed the aftermath of a particularly gruesome worker's riot that had rippled from a mine just outside the northern gate of Mantle into the city proper. One which sparked a level five Grimm attack and killed hundreds.

The corpse of her baby brother, even younger than poor Oscar, graced the front page of the news article in all its gruesome glory. with the Headline 'Mantle Riots causes Grimm Spike. Hundreds dead'.

Summer's eyes slid closed, thinking back on that horrific day.

Of her baby brother.

Just what would Kieran think of Summer now? His big sister had become a Huntress. And then tortured into a broken pathetic shell of that huntress wracked by PTSD, trapped in a war between two immortals going through the worst divorce in history.

Summer tapped a key. The next article read less like a new report and more a gossip piece by some local magazine.

'Atlas Colonel Violet Rose publicly disavows daughter'.

At the time, Summer had been too consumed by her own grief to realize just how badly her actions affected her mother. How much damage she had done to the family reputation. As she skimmed through the articles, more and more headlines followed the same unflattering pattern.

Headlines or opinion pieces like 'Fall from Prestige. The Wilting Rose' and so on. Flowery turns of phrase that turned Summer's stomach with mixed feelings of disgust and despair.

But then, there was the last article. One published about eight years ago. An obituary of her mother. Summer felt tears gather at the edges of her eyes, and did her best vain effort to calm herself. It was one thing to be told that her mother was dead, it was quite another to see the evidence. Perhaps the most heartbreaking part of it all was that Violet Rose died without even knowing her daughter still lived. Without ever meeting her granddaughter either.

Glistening tears spilt from her eyes, making shimmering tracks down her cheeks as her silver eyes glanced at the unopen envelop to the side. Quiet sniffling filled the air as Summer read her mother's entry, even as she tried to stifle the sound of her sobs with her hand. Her eyes slid closed, overcome by the grief and reality of it all.

Lanky arms slipped around her shoulders, embracing her gently from behind.

"Come back to bed."

Qrow's tired breathy whisper tickled her ear and she stifled a strained little giggle. Despite her melancholia, she leaned back into his embrace, drinking in his presence. He was like a tonic to her nerves, and for a second she could deceive herself into believing everything would be okay.

"Can't sleep." She whispered at last when she trusted herself enough to speak.

"Coming back to bed might help. Trust me, this chair ain't that comfortable for napping." Qrow tried to give some measure of levity to help her cheer up, and it worked to a point.

It wasn't until his eyes landed on what she was reading that his attempts at humour evaporated. He exhaled heavily and reached a hand out to turn off the monitor.

Qrow's words were not unsympathetic as he swiveled the chair around and hunched down to embrace his wife completely. "Damn it, woman. Don't you have enough issues to deal with already, without reading something like this?"

"I just... wanted to know." Summer whispered, burying her face in his neck.

He rubbed circles in her back. "I understand."

Summer had lost track of how long they'd remained in each other's embrace but she pulled away eventually. There was a trembling smile on her puff red face and she was struggling to hold back the tide of more. She brushed her face with the back of her hand.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Qrow soothed, hands resting on her shoulders.

He leaned forward to plant a kiss on her brow then made his way to the kitchenette, pulling out a pair of mugs and boiling the kettle.

"You know a few years back, I found myself stopping by a small town in Northern Vale while I was on one of the old man's jobs. Nice place, decent enough food, decent enough inn." He began lightly, fixing some tea for the two of them and cutting the tense silence.

Summer raised an eyebrow, rubbing at her tears still. Qrow's nose scrunched in thought then he shook his head.

"Can't remember the name of it. But that's not the point. Point is; they were infested by Insomniac Grimm. Those termite-y little bastards had gotten their spindly little claws into everything. Pain in the ass pests if there ever were. Problem is, no one knew where the Queen bug was. So, me playing the role of the good Samaritan, I decide to stick around and try to help them fix the problem."

Qrow shook his head and groaned, "I was stuck there for eight days. Eight. Freaking. Days. Can you imagine going that long without sleep? Things were going nuts. Everything was going to hell. Everyone was on edge and border-line psychotic."

He laughed, both incredulous and disbelieving, "At one point I was hallucinating and swore up and down that I saw the face of God! Until I realized it was just the Inn's custodian, Monty Carlo."

Summer snorted, holding back a choked laugh.

Qrow shrugged lightly, playing off his own joke. "Bright side, I gave that dude a hell of an ego boost once the Insomniac were taken care of. Man was still riding that compliment when I left that little town."

His red eyes turned back onto her, and the corner of his lips barely turned up in a smile as tears of grief were replaced with tears of mirth. Summer herself was biting down on her fist not to laugh at him.

Qrow returned to her with one of the mugs, one already with milk and doubtlessly filled with her preferred quantity of sugar.

Summer took the proffered mug and took a tentative sip of the scolding liquid before letting it rest in her lap. She stared at her sorry reflection in the pale liquid. "I'm sorry."

Qrow blinked. "For what?"

"For... everything." Summer sighed, shaking her head in dismay. "For leaving for that stupid mission. Getting captured. Being stuck with the Maiden powers. And... I'm sorry for you and Ruby. I know it has to hurt, having to sit and watch me deal with all of this crap bit by bit."

She pinched the bridge of her nose, eyes closed. "I'm just sick of being sick. I'm tired of having to fight every damn day to convince myself that this is real and happening. And not just some foul trick that she-devil is playing on me."

Qrow exhaled deeply and took a sip from his own tea. He took a seat at the dining table, resting his mug on the table and running his finger around the rim.

"Everyone has baggage, Summer. Only thing you can do is work through it one day at a time. Besides, you remember how much of a hot mess I was when we first met?"

Summer shrugged, nursing her tea. "I suppose that is true. You were hot; and you were a total mess."

"Yeah. I - wait, 'were'? Are you implying I'm not attractive anymore?" The faux indignation made Summer snigger a little.

"No, you were hot back then. Now you're smokin' sexy. Fine wine and all that. Besides, have I ever told you I've got a thing for salt and pepper?" Summer winked and Qrow rolled his eyes.

"If anyone didn't know the whole story between us, they'll stay I've snagged myself a young thing." Qrow answered.

"Which is... actually pretty ironic, all things considered. You were the youngest on Team STRQ as I recall."

"I'm older than Raven." Qrow complained.

"Funny. I remember that she said you were younger by fifteen minutes or something like that?" Summer noted.

Qrow sipped his tea coolly. "I reject your reality and substitute my own."

"And you call me the brat!" Summer sniggered.

The levity of the moment settled, then subsided before long. Summer took another long draft from her tea. "Do you want to talk about her? About Haven?"

Qrow shook his head, "We're talking about you right now. I can mope on my own time."

Summer cocked a dark eyebrow at him and Qrow's shoulders sagged a little. He rubbed his eyes with his spare hand. "Look... I promise I'll talk about it. But I'm more worried about you right now. So, lets just focus on that okay?"

He indicated to the yellowing letter on the desk. "I saw you with that earlier. What is it?"

Summer glanced at the old envelope. "Admiral Thorne gave me the letter. It's from my mother before she died."

Qrow frowned, confused. "Why were you talking to the Mantle Admiral? I thought James had you on lockdown. Something about being a flight risk?"

"We struck a bargain. It's actually part of the reason why he's letting me out of my little suite in the hospital half the time."

"Beyond the fact you're a seasonal maiden, and really - Who the hell can actually stop you if you wanted to escape?" Qrow added.

Summer chuckled slightly, but her expression soured as she fingered the edges of the note.

"Well, yes there is that too."

"So, let me guess: you told him something along the lines of 'Bee-Tee-Dubs, I'm the Summer Maiden, do as I say'?" Qrow joked half-heartedly.

"I told him everything you told me. About Salem, Oz and Jinn." The tea mug froze halfway to his lips and wide red eyes stared at her in stunned silence.

They slid closed and Qrow set the mug down on the table, tracing the mug's rim with a steady finger. "How did he take it?"

"Shockingly… he was pragmatic about it." Summer reported.

"In other words: next time I see him, prepare to be eviscerated. Good to know." Qrow sighed, then pointed to the letter again. "Then I assume that he let you go to Mantle and you got that letter from someone?"

"The letter was written by my mother. Admiral Thorne held onto it all these years. Maybe she was hoping to put it on my grave or something when - if she retired. Fortunately, I'm quite alive so I can read it for myself." She explained, running a finger around the faded edges of the envelope.

"You know that I didn't leave Atlas on the best of terms, right? Or her for that matter." Summer sighed, dabbing away the traces of tears glistening in the corner of her eyes. "I was a stupid brat. So damn stupid. I was so angry, my little brother was just killed by random violence and all I could selfishly think was 'How could my mother be such a cold unfeeling bitch?'."

"The only time I was ever on good terms with my mother was when she had me slashing throats when I was old enough to pick up a knife." Qrow grumbled bitterly.

Summer studied him for a long moment before half-hooded silver eyes fell to the hand-written envelop on the desk.

Qrow winced and sat back, "I'm sorry - I didn't mean-"

Summer raised her hands hastily to ward off any further apologies. She drew in a breath and smiled. "Its okay. Its okay, I promise. It's just that you're so good to me; To Ruby, Yang, the kids and everyone else that, sometimes I just forget that you came from a darker place than most."

"She disowned me. Sent me away to Vale with my Dad. Their marriage just... fell apart after that."

"Explains why you were so withdrawn back when we first met. I always thought it was timidity." Qrow mused, propping his hand on his chin.

"And I never wanted to dispel that idea. A comfortable fiction that disguised an uncomfortable truth," Summer answered, she plucked the letter from the table and held it reverently in her hand. "But when I spoke to Aunt Iris, she told me that my mother didn't hate me as much as I thought. She received every letter I wrote."

Summer gave a sad little laugh, "They even had a running bet on whether or not our marriage would last. Can you believe that?"

"I mean - there was about a fourteen year or so break. What with the whole- thing." He waved his hand dismissively over his shoulder.

Summer chuckled and stared down at the letter. "My mother didn't hate me. I always thought she did, but she didn't... and now-"

She cut herself off.

Qrow finished the thought for her. "Now that you're back in Atlas, you're lamenting that you never got the chance to patch things up with her."

Summer tapped a tuneless little beat into her mug. "Even though I'm back in my homeland where I thought I'd find relief, I guess all of the memories I'd buried are coming back with a vengeance. Add a sprinkling of cruel captivity by the devil incarnate, and you have the lovely Post Traumatic sundae that is me."

Qrow frowned, looking off into space. "I think you've mixed your metaphors a bit there."

"Don't be a smartarse, Stilts." Summer bemoaned.

"Can't help it. Part of my charm and all that." Qrow gave a half shrug, "Have you read it?"

"I know I should. Out of a sense of respect and honour if nothing else. But I'm scared about what it'll have to say. It is my mother reaching out to me? Or a last bitter condemnation of everything I've done wrong in my life?" Summer set it down again, eyes sliding closed. "I know I won't find out unless I read it, but I'm afraid to. Its a Vacuo Roulette I'm not willing to play right now."

Qrow rose from his seat and crossed the room to kneel before her. "No one's saying you have to open it right now. Its waited years. I think the dead can wait a little while longer."

"Well..." Summer leaned back in her chair, looking into his eyes with a wry expression. "You've completely failed to console me."

"You're right. I'm terrible at it. Most of the time, anyway." Qrow conceded, he rested a hand on her lap.

"What would you like to do now?" He asked, rising to his feet. "I have the vague notion that neither of us are in a particular mood to go back to sleep."

Summer slumped, shaking her head. "I don't know."

"Do you wanna head out, maybe get a midnight snack." He offered his hand to her.

"I don't know, I guess."

"Lets go get something to eat."

Ten minutes later, Qrow and Summer left the living complex in their full Huntsmen attire. Qrow's trusty Harbinger at his back, and Summer's twin scythes on her hips. Arm in arm, they wondered into Atlas' trade distinct, still abuzz with activity at this ungodly hour, searching for something that would take their fancy.

Author's note:

Yay for couple counseling! Sort of! To clarify: Yes, Summer's little brother's name was Kieran Rose. Kieran meaning 'dark'.

One - I have seen the new RWBY episode and I am far from impressed. Ironwood, you coward! Shoot both of them!

Two - Sadly, I didn't achieve my goal of having this story finished before RWBY V8 started, but the year has been hectic and I'm lazy so... yeah. This story will run atypical to canon as you well know, and will feature its own ending. I may integrate things that V8+ have introduced, but in general, this story isn't going to follow the same direction.

I welcome feedback and criticism,

Aurora313