Raven sat at the table in their little cottage. Tai was at her side. In front of them both, was Summer, holding a baby in her arms, much like how she did after giving birth to Yang. It looked tiny, defenseless. Taking care of Yang had been a nightmare. If Summer wanted help, she would not get it.
"W-When did this happen?" Tai asked, mouth hanging open. Summer looked away, as if deeply ashamed.
"A… few months ago." A sudden idea ran through Raven's head. It was unclear how exactly her brother Qrow felt about Summer, but they did spend a lot of time together lately. Mostly going on missions on Ozpin's behalf. Maybe, as unlikely as it was, something had happened. After all, Raven and Tai had happened.
"Tell me it isn't Qrow's," Raven said, fixing her partner with a hard stare. She was worried, about her little brother, about her innocent partner.
"N-No. Not really. It was just…" Summer pursed her lips, shaking a little. At a moments notice, Tai was holding her. Raven felt a pang of jealousy.
"It's okay. We're a team, right? We'll help you." Tai said, rubbing circles across her back. His blue eyes switched to her red ones for a moment, as if asking her to help out as well.
"Do we know him?" Raven asked.
"No. It was just a fling. I-I'm sorry…" Summer looked like she was about to cry. Raven felt anger well up inside her chest.
"Did he bail?" Raven asked. Summer tensed. That gave her the answer. Raven had thought about leaving, about escaping, about running away from Yang. She had been afraid, of the responsibility, of the vulnerability of having a child and caring for them. In the end, it had been Summer who convinced her to stay. She would always be thankful for that, for she now had a bundle of joy and energy sleeping soundly upstairs.
"Yes," was Summer's answer.
"Bastard…" Tai muttered, clenching one of his fists.
"It's okay. I can take care of myself,"
"We can help you, as long as you don't become a burden." She said, a little too harshly. Tai glared at her.
"Come on, Rav," he said. The baby in Summer's arms stirred, and her eyes narrowed even more.
"Actually… there's something I need to ask of you…" Summer looked at Tai, then at Raven, then back to Tai, then back at Raven.
"What?" A pit in her stomach. A foreboding feeling. Summer got up without saying a word, and walked towards her partner. She held the baby close, as if afraid it would fly away at a moments notice. The pale creature simply moved a little, mumbling incoherent sounds.
"I… have a mission. Something I have to do. I believe I can save Remnant, once and for all," Raven's pit became a bottomless, but she said nothing. It was Tai who reacted.
"Then we'll go with you!" He said, getting up, nearly throwing the chair into the floor.
"No. You can't help me on this one. You'd only be in danger," she said, eyes darkened. Now Raven got up.
"A-Are you sure?" She stuttered. She never stuttered.
"I'm positive. Please…"
"But Sum–"
"–If she think this is correct, then let her go." Raven said, nodding at Summer. She was strong, stronger than anyone. There was no chance she could lose. And she wanted to do it by herself, use her own strength. She respected that.
"Thank you," Summer said, with a nod and a small smile.
"So what did you want?" Raven asked, crossing her arms. Tai stood to the side, possibly forcing himself to accept what was happening.
"It's just going to be a week, maybe two. Please," Summer extended her hands, with a lot of reluctance. She presented the small baby to her partner. "Take care of her. I know it's too much to ask. But please,"
Raven pursed her lips, looking at the small thing Summer was entrusting her with. Many times, Raven felt undeserving of the trust Summer put on her. Her partner was way too optimistic, way too heroic, way too trusting. Sill, it was undeniable that being granted such trust, after being considered an outcast, bandit and criminal felt… good.
"Alright. Just this once," Raven said, putting her hands under the little thing. "Because you helped me with Yang. A favor for a favor." Summer nodded, and slowly retracted her arms, letting the small child in Raven's hands. It felt extremely heavy.
Tai ran up to hug his friend. "Please, come back safe." Raven had no time to feel anything about them. She just looked at the small, bundled thing in her arms. So vulnerable, so frail, in the care of someone like her. It reminded her of Yang when she was little.
"I will. See you later guys." Summer said. Before exiting the cottage, she turned to Raven and pointed at the child. "Her name is Ruby. Ruby Rose. You'll love her. Goodbye."
Tai and Raven watched her leave, side by side. Then, he turned towards his wife, putting one hand around her back, and another around her arms which held the baby safe.
"A pretty name, don't you think?" he said, smiling.
"Yes. Summer was always good with names."
A week passed. Then two. Then a month. Still nothing heard from Summer. Ruby cried, a lot. Raven thought she had gotten over the nightmare that was taking care of a child. Still, the way little Ruby always seemed to snuggle against her chest when held was… something. And Yang loved her too. Now she had two girls snuggling against her instead of one, which closed off her routes of escape when Yang was feeling affectionate.
One day, she had tucked Ruby away in her and Tai's room, while Yang was soundly asleep. Team STRQ sans Summer was reunited downstairs. Raven stood in the living room, while Qrow paced around the kitchen. Tai simply sat in a stool, watching his friend and partner worry himself to death.
"Should we even do this?" Raven asked. "Summer can take care of herself,"
"It's not for debate, Sis. We go, and that's it." Qrow answered. Tai sighed, letting his head rest on his bandaged fist.
"We are a team," he said, locking eyes with both of them. "Teams stick together. Open the portal. We go in and out, no fighting."
Raven took a deep breath, focused her Aura, and felt around. The world became black, and she felt her connections. Qrow, Tai, Yang and… that was it. Bonding was a dangerous thing, in the end. She looked around Remnant, searching for her last connection, for Summer. But… nothing came up. As if they had never… bonded.
But that could not be. She knew it.
Sometimes, deeper emotions were necessary, when the distances were great. She looked back on her memories with Summer. Their meeting after initiation, their first mission together, their talks, their shenanigans, their study sessions, the time when Raven revealed her pregnancy. Yes, that was a powerful memory. That one was good enough. She could feel their connection, however faint it was.
Raven took out her sword, and in a second slashed at the ear, telling reality to bend apart and open a tear in space and time to let her get to her loved ones. A red and black swirling portal opened up in their room, sucking out the light, letting out wind that nearly blew away pillows, napkins and glasses.
In a second, it was gone, closed of it's own volition. Raven stared at it in disbelief.
"W-What happened? Sis, open the portal!" Qrow said, agitated. Taking shallow breaths, Raven slashed again. Her portals never failed before.
Nothing came. She sheathed her sword, only to take it out again and cut the air. Nothing happened. She tried to use her draw trigger function for a stronger cut. Nothing happened.
Her chest grew cold, colder than ever before. It was not fear. No, that emotion had come and gone during her first attempt. All that remained now was emptiness. Realization of what happened.
"Raven! The portal!" Qrow screamed now, going to her right side.
"It's not working!" She yelled back.
"What do you mean it's not working!" Qrow shot back, spit landing on her face.
"It means… she's gone…" Tai said. He was now standing at his full height, but his eyes betrayed his inner heartbreak.
"What? No, no, no that can't be!" Qrow held his head, pacing around the room.
Raven would have chided him for how infantile he was being, but… she found her strength lacking.
"It–" Tai's voice cracked, followed by a 'tch'. Of the four of them, he was the most sensitive despite his enormous size and boisterous attitude. "It's the truth. If Raven c-can't open a portal, t-then… that means…" A sob escaped him, Tai put on a brave face still. "Right, Rav?"
She just nodded dumbly. Summer was gone. Dead. In the afterlife. All phrases for 'dead and not coming back' swam through her head, repeating one after another. She had to use all her willpower to avoid shedding tears.
"I… I need some air…" Qrow said, walking outside, Harbinger dropping to the floor.
"I'll… go make sure he's alright. Why don't you check on Yang?" Tai said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Without a word, Raven headed towards the stairs, not caring to know what Taiyang was going to do.
The house was silent, however, as soon as she was three fourths of the way up, she noticed a head of yellow hair peeking out of the corner.
"Yang?" Immediately, her crimson eyes narrowed. "You should be in bed," she said. Yang simply looked at her with those innocent lilac eyes. Even in the dark, she noticed they were filled with fear.
"What… happen?" Asked the girl. She was only four, after all. Normally, Raven would answer with the cold, hard truth. Children need not be coddled, despite Taiyang's insistence on spoiling her.
However, saying that Summer was dead out loud, that would make her dam break. And she could not afford that, not now. She needed to be strong.
"Nothing's wrong. We just had… an argument. Go back to bed." She took Yang's small hand, and kept her close, afraid she'd also go to never return. After a few moment, the girl was tucked and in bed, snuggling against her large pillow.
"Goodnight mommy," Yang said, extending her arms in order to try and kiss her. Raven accepted, mostly because Yang was very affectionate and denying her meant she would make a ruckus.
"Night, my girl," she said, accepting Yang's kiss on her forehead, before ruffling her golden locks and leaving closing the room.
Despite not doing much except preparing that day, Raven felt exhausted. She wanted to go to bed, but something else sprung to her mind. The baby sleeping in her room, using Yang's old crib.
Raven opened the door, switched on the lamp on her side of the bed, and went to Ruby's crib. They had untangled the baby, fed it, played with it. Well… Taiyang did. Raven simply watched.
Ruby slept soundly without a care in the world. She was tiny, like her mother. In fact, she looked too much like Summer. From her pale skin to her short black hair with tips of a red color.
Raven grit her teeth. How was this fair? To have to look at her partner's visage, so shortly after her death. It wasn't fair. She was a hypocrite; to try every talk, every argument every insult in order to get her to stay, while she herself simply left her defenseless baby in her care while Raven said nothing.
"How could you do this to me?!" The words came out with force. Her eyes stung and her cheeks were wet as she slammed her fist into the side of the baby's resting place.
It was strong enough to shake the entire room. Of course Ruby would wake up. She began to wail. Raven stepped back, before her instincts kicked in.
"No, no, no. It's okay, hey," she quickly wrapped her arms around the infant and held her close to her chest, like she had done with Yang all those years ago. She began rocking her, attempting to calm the struggling little thing. "It's okay. Mo- Raven's here. Shhhh," she had always been bad with kids. Without Tai, she would have gone insane raising Yang.
And talking about him, he was at her side in an instant.
"Rav, what wrong?! What happened?!" he asked, looking around until he spotted the dented crib. Even as she comforted Ruby, her tears continued to spill out of control.
"Just… I lost…" In a second, he was embracing her with his big strong arms. He embraced both her and the baby. That seemed to be enough to calm Ruby down. Damn Tai, always so good with children. Maybe he had two semblances.
"It's okay…" he said, snuggling his face into her hair.
"It's not. I should have been strong enough. Strong enough to stop her, to tell her it was a bad idea. But I let her go. I'm nothing but… a coward." She said, sobbing into his chest.
"There was nothing we could do, nothing. Don't blame yourself, Rav. You can't be strong all the time." He replied. She took a deep breath, and that helped calm her down a little. They stood like that for a moment, just enjoying each others company. That's what she loved about Tai. He was strong enough to know when to be weak. She wished she could do the same.
After a few minutes they separated, but remained close together. Raven watched Ruby slumber once again.
"What now?" She asked him.
"What do you mean?"
"What do we do with her? She's got no family. Summer's parents are dead, and now she's too. Should we leave her at an orphanage?" Normally, she would do that. Blood relations were important, and despite how cute she was, Ruby was not her daughter.
"What do you want to do?" He asked her. "I… want to keep her. She needs a home, and, well, look at her. I can't leave this behind." He said, poking a finger into Ruby's abdomen. The baby stirred, and a laugh came out of her lips. Raven's mouth involuntarily twitched upwards.
"I…" She looked at her, and Summer's face once again sprung to the center of her mind. "We owe her that much."
"Maybe," He replied.
"It's unfair for her to leave Ruby here so suddenly, but I can't just throw her away. That's exactly what my tribe did," she remembered, how her parents left her and Qrow at the mercy of the Branwen tribe. Only by being strong, by promising to learn how to hunt huntsmen were they allowed any kind of future. She did not want that for Ruby.
"Okay. So… we'll keep little Ruby Rose." He stated.
"Yes," she held Ruby tighter, afraid she would fade away like Summer.
"It won't be easy,"
"Nothing ever is with us… dear," she said, snuggling her face into the crook of Tai's neck.
They would raise Ruby Rose as a part of their family, as Yang's little sister.
Despite her conflicted feelings, Raven swore one thing to herself. She would not let Ruby scatter.
A/N: I binged all of Little Pickle Town's shorts and felt the need to make this. I hope I got Raven's character right. I may do one, ONE, extra chapter set in the future. Maybe.
I hope you liked it. Any mistakes and tips to improve are welcome and appreciated. That's all for now, Chiao!