They said the best revenge was to live well.

Summer didn't call it revenge. She was not so petty.

But from time to time, she did spare a thought for the loser of this particular triangle… someone she might've called "friend" at one time -and at times still thought of her as such- but doubted the affection would ever be returned again.

The little red-haired girl in her arms was proof of her victory. The blonde girl bouncing on her knee was a captured flag. The man beaming at her from the kitchen was the arbiter decreeing it so.

She'd loved him a long time. Longer than her rival ever had. She deserved what she had earned.

But she was not so heartless as to not feel some guilt. Not regret, but guilt… just enough for someone who knew she'd taken some unsavory steps in pursuit of doing as she had to. That was nothing new for a Huntress: sometimes you did a bad thing for a good reason. Sometimes you did the reverse. Sometimes you could only ever do the best you could with the circumstances you had.

Summer wanted something, and struck when an opportunity presented itself. Four people were happy; one was not. It… it wasn't perfect, but it was as close as she could've hoped for.

Taiyang sometimes felt that same guilt, but whenever its specter raised its head Summer would quash it back down, whispering in her husband's ear and assuaging him; freeing him from the burden as she so often did. And when he was happy, when Tai was… uncomplicated, that was what made Summer happy. He thought of taking care of her and the girls, and Summer needed nothing more. His untroubled sleep helped enable her own.

Yang was trying to get her attention; she wanted to show her mother something she'd crafted. Summer adjusted her arm to not disturb the sleeping Ruby, before focusing all her attention on her eldest daughter.

Her daughter: very much not the daughter of the woman she so closely resembled.

It could so easily be thought a burden: to care for another woman's child. But for Summer, it was a relish. It was part of her motivation to act, and the love and warmth of the child before her ever reminded her she'd made the right decision.

Looking at the long blonde hair did lead Summer to spare a thought… to leave the bliss of doting on her child and spare a thought -spare pity- for the woman who'd lost her. No doubt Raven's long hair was giving her trouble without all the modern conveniences she'd had before she… left.

It had amused Summer, to see Raven so flummoxed by air dryers and touch screens and holograms… all the things she'd never known out in the wild. She acclimated, of course, but for Summer she couldn't help but like this stranger from a strange land for her quirks.

When they were still on speaking terms, Raven had mentioned how she missed the world away from this cabin. Summer couldn't entirely fathom it, but she understood longing for the familiar. For Raven, a roof over one's head was less a comfort than the shade of a tree or the whistling of wind passing by her face. Shampoo may have tamed her wild hair, but nothing could ever tame her wild spirit.

Tai, however could… temper it. He could make her long to stay in her cage and sing for him and forget the world outside beckoning her. He could make her forget that longing with compassion nature lacked.

Summer knew he longed for her, even now. He could not simply forget loving someone. And perhaps Summer thought Raven still felt something for Tai…

They had not spoken. But Summer knew Raven watched on occasion, hiding in the trees and peering back at the home she'd lost; the home she thought stolen from her.

Summer was not a thief. She would concede to being an opportunist.

Raven's distrust was growing then, exacerbated by Ozpin's quiet machinations. She was stressed. She was distant. She was aloof. She was suffering some manner of depression after her pregnancy, and -never being able to articulate her emotions well- she couldn't explain any of this to Tai, who could only suffer in ignorance.

Summer was over so often anyway, to see Yang and dote on her beloved niece. She was a good and supportive friend to Taiyang, encouraging him to be patient and assuring him things would work out… and hoping they would not, and she could keep coming by day after day to help.

She'd wanted him since Beacon. He loved her -thought not quite like he loved Raven- and was grateful for her strength and support.

It wasn't a grand plan. It wasn't premeditated. It was an act of passion…

Raven may have returned if they never acted. Raven may have finally been able to discuss her issues with Tai and have been able to heal.

Instead her gilded cage had been opened, and the bird flew away. She was wounded and lost and didn't feel she had anyone to turn to… and Summer took the nest for herself. All to help.

Sometimes she was bothered by guilt.

Then Yang showed her the picture she had drawn, and Summer smiled at her… and all that guilt melted away.

Not everyone had their happy ending. But she did, Tai did, Yang did…

Who spared a thought for the woman who abandoned her husband and child? Who demonized the woman who stepped in to pick up the pieces?

Who cared to remember how they got there?

With each smiling child it seemed all the further away...