Quoth The Raven Once More
_
Taiyang sat on the couch, holding the photo of his team, in pain.
Suddenly, a knock on the door drew his attention.
Taiyang stirred to his feet, putting the photo back on the table.
Opening the door, he drew back in shock.
Summer Rose stood in the doorway, dressed and looking the exact way she looked as she had left that day.
"..S-Summer?"
His heroine smiled gently. "I promised you I'd be back, Tai," Summer said gently.
Taiyang grabbed Summer in an embrace.
"You did!" Taiyang sobbed! "You kept your promise! I knew you'd be back!"
"Tai," a familiar gravelly voice said softly and sadly.
Tai's head whipped around.
Qrow stood by the couch.
How long had he been there?
Wait, where was Ruby and Yang?
"She's not coming"
Wait what? Taiyang turned back...but Summer was right here-
His eyes widened.
Summer was changing in his arms.
Her face became covered and grimmlike, her eyes became blood red, and her voice...
"You didn't go after them" she said accusingly..
Tai stepped back. "No, Summer, I had to take care of Yang-"
"And you couldn't stop Ruby or Yang," the grimm apparition said accusingly...you didn't warn Yang, nor did you warn Ruby before she left...you can't stop anyone from leaving Tai...and they won't come back!"
"No, no," Taiyang whimpered..
"Summer please stop, you're scaring me.."
"Then you should wake up, Tai," Summer said, grabbing his shoulders.
"Summer, please!"
"TAIYANG! WAKE UP, IDIOT!"
Taiyang's eyes flew open as he jerked his head forward, bashing into someone's face.
"Oof!"
Raven Branwen flew backwards on the large bed in his bedroom, falling off the edge of the mattress and conking her head.
Arf! Arf!
Taiyang looked at the doorway.
Zwei sat concerned, with Raven's hair bow at his feet...
Realization kicked in...he had a nightmare, zwei had rushed to the guest room to get Raven...
Raven, who had returned because...
The woman on question got to her feet, eyes ablaze with maiden fire.
Having met a few maidens in the past, it was still so strange to see that fire coming from somebody he knew.
Fortunately, he knew many phrases to use that weren't something stupid like "calm down."
"Are you okay?"
Raven's mouth drops open.
"You have a nightmare so bad your mutt bashes the door to my room open and rips off my hair bow in an attempt to get me to check on you, you headbutt me so hard I fly off the bed in a manner that generally only my brother's semblance could imagine, and your first words to ask me while awake...is if I'm okay?!"
Tai grabbed his face in pain...
"First, Zwei is not a mutt, he's a Corgi. Second, its not your room, you're a guest. And third...I'm sorry"
Raven's eyes softened. "How long?"
Tai took his hand away from his face in confusion. "What?"
" How long have you had these nightmares?"
Taiyang sighed. "Ever since Summer vanished...it got to the point where it put a strain on my relationship with Ruby...I thought that by having Qrow train her, it would heal the rift caused from me being so overprotective...but it didn't fix the strain. "
Raven's eyes narrowed. "And Yang?"
Tai made eye contact with her. "Yang understood the pain caused by her..death. She did a better job of raising Ruby than me during that time...its why I trusted her to go after Ruby on her own, and bring her sister back."
"Except she didn't," Raven countered. "Ruby chose to follow Qrow, who follows Ozpin...and Yang has chosen to follow that path."
Taiyang said nothing...what could he say.
Raven was silent.
"Go on...ask the real question you have, " Taiyang sighed.
"One year, " Raven frowned... "It took you one year to move on from me...and with her."
"Raven," Tai started.
Raven raised her finger, stopping him.
"I get it, we both knew Summer for years, she was with you ever since I left, and she had feelings for you, just like I had...have"
"It's just...I need to hear from you...why"
Taiyang closed his eyes, trying to decide how best to answer her...
"You had warned me that you might end up breaking my heart, that taking a chance with you might be a mistake...I wanted to believe in the good of others, no matter how foolish. When you left...I was lost...I was afraid...i was without hope..."
"Then Summer chose to act decisively," Raven realized.
"She gave me direction...she gave purpose...she gave me courage...through her, I found hope again," Taiyang acknowledged. "I asked her how I could ever thank her for everything? What could I possibly give her for being my hero. She asked if I could ever love her like I loved you..."
"What did you say?" Raven demanded.
Taiyang smiled. " I told her that I would love her as she was her own person the same way I loved you for being your own person... There was no way I could love two people the same way as both of you shine in a matter unique to you both...and I promised Summer that I would love her for who she was...not who she felt she needed to be".
Raven smiled at that response. "So you still cared about me too...good to know."
"Raven," Taiyang hesitated. "I understand why you fled."
Raven clenched her fists. "Tell me."
"You would never back down from a fight that can kill you if you felt the cause was worth fighting for..But for you, that cause had to have a clear victory at the end ..and this war against Salem and The Grimm has been going on for generations. You realized that if you stayed, you would continue to be in this fight, and you would commit to more than that...our family...you felt it might weaken you...You don't protect the tribe because it was morally right, you protect the tribe because you felt it was the one thing worth defending as family."
Raven sighed "Just because one understands another doesn't mean they agree."
"And I don't, agree" Taiyang admitted. "But Summer and I took years before...before we realized why...so guess yeah, the whole thing was pretty complicated".
"So was our relationship," Raven chuckled. "But just the same, you helped me see something differently as well."
Taiyang was curious. "I'm listening"
Raven smiled. "I was so confused. How could somebody so strong be such a goofball or so carefree? I guess I was so confused, I just wanted to understand...and then.. well ...I found myself happy in the process.."
Raven took a deep breath. "I'll help you get to Atlas or Vacuo... but you're in no shape to fight Salem's agents yet..."
Taiyang stared…"what are you saying"
Raven smirked "I'm going to have to help you get back into shape...and at the very least, Ruby, Yang, and Qrow might forgive me making sure you'll be okay."
Taiyang gave a happy smile at that one. "Trying to find redemption, Rae?"
Raven laughed bitterly. "I lost the right for redemption a long time ago...now? I just want closure."
Taiyang nodded. "I'll help you..you deserve that much...at the very least, I can prevent qrow from trying to shoot you on sight"
Raven smiled gently, before moving to pick up Zwei and put him on the bed.
"Uhh, Rae-"
Raven raised up the sheets to crawl closer to Taiyang and hold him.
"Just relax, and listen to my heartbeart," Raven whispered.
"Let me help you sleep peacefully this time around".
Taiyang relaxed in her arms, slowly drifting off to sleep.
"Rae?""Hmm?"
"I still love you," Tai whispered, falling into a peaceful slumber.
Raven waited till she was still sure Tai was asleep...then gently moved her hand through his hair, kissing him on the forehead.
"I know...and thank you, my warrior"
Taiyang sits next to Summer's grave, flowers surrounding the memorial.
"Why didn't you make it?"
"Why don't you find out?"
Summer Rose once again walks beside him, sitting down in front of her grave.
Taiyang smiles weakly. "Are you going to be another nightmare?"
Summer shook her head. "I wish I could say no, but thats up to you, although I hope not"
Tai frowned, then burst out laughing.
Summer frowned, "um, Tai?"
"Up to me?" Tai growled, startling the dream Summer. "Up to me?"
"I couldn't stop Raven from leaving.
I couldn't stop Qrow's alcoholism.
I couldn't prevent your death.
I couldn't stop our Special Angel from leaving.
I couldn't stop Yang either.
WHEN HAS IT EVER BEEN MY CHOICE?
I CAN'T EVEN CHOOSE TO GRIEVE FOR YOU WITHOUT THE COMMUNITY CALLING ME A SHITTY HUSBAND AND FATHER!
WHEN HAVE I EVER HAD A CHOICE?"
Summer watched as her husband burst into tears...so human...
"Do you remember when we had Ruby?" Summer whispered.
Tai wiped his eyes clean. "I can't believe she didn't look a trace like me..."
"I know, " Summer whispered. "And people noticed that..and made rumors, given that Yang looked nothing like me...that somehow both our children were bastards"
She glared angrily, as if reliving the experiences.
"I could have chosen to let that art teacher at Signal just mouth on and on, but when she insulted our family, claimed that it was a lie, that somehow Qrow deserved to be Ruby's father and that our family didn't deserve to exist..."
Taiyang smiled "You always were at your most beautiful when you protected what mattered most to you through violence. "
Summer stared at Taiyang. "I was dealing with slanderous bullshit, what was I defending to you?"
Taiyang smirked. "Honor."
Summer's lip twitched. "And me breaking her teeth?"
Taiyang shrugged. "Well, legs grow back when broken, so I guess you wanted her and her friends to learn a more permanent lesson."
Summer giggled and booped his nose. "What am I going to do with you?"
Taiyang sobered. "What can we do, Sums? You're gone...You're not coming back"
"But Ruby and Yang, can."
Summer grasped his shoulder. "You heard Raven...Ruby intends to fight.. but unlike me, she refuses to fight Salem alone.. that's where I went wrong. And Yang is prepared to be there by her little sister's side..."
Summer looked into his eyes." I love you and I am grateful that you chose all these years to grieve for me...but the time for grieving is over...I need you to rejoin the fight..for me, and for our kids."
She smiled softly, "If Raven is going to help you get there, you'd better get into shape first, so be sure to ask her for an assbeating into shape."
Taiyang stood up and walked to the gravestone, putting his hand to the gravestone.
"Hey, Tai, I'm right here you know."
Taiyang closed his eyes then opened them. "Are you really a dream? Your words, your advice...your touch...is as if you were never gone."
Summer approached Tai and clasped his face on her hands. Tai tilted his face down, and kissed Summer deeply. Time seemed to stop, just as it had when they had first confessed to each other all those years ago.
As they withdrew, Summer gave that pure innocent smile that seemed so much like a brat, and yet so mature.
"People die twice...first when they are dead, second when they are forgotten".
"I will never forget you, Summer Rose, " Taiyang promised her.
Summer grinned. "Then I will never be gone. Now it's time for you to move forward Tai. And give Ruby and Yang my love."
The DreamWorks blurs into darkness, with a fading echo.
"Thus kindly I scatter."
_
The birds began chirping as the sunlight poured through the windows.
Taiyang awoke.
Looking around, he noticed that both Raven and Zwei were nowhere to be found..
Before the feelings of abandonment could set in, the smell of burnt bacon met his nose.
Raven walked into the room carry blacked bacon and eggs, zwei at her feet with an exasperated expression.
Taiyang made eye contact with the Corgi. How bad? he wordlessly communicated.
Zwei whimpered she tried to make soup...and burnt it
Tai winced the kitchen?
Zwei smiled Safe, fortunately
Tai relaxed "I was so scared for a moment."
Raven glared, "What were you two communicating?"
Dad and Dog stiffened, with Zwei trying to back out of the room.
With her free hand, Raven picked up Zwei, preventing him from fleeing.
Raven then gave Tai a narrowed look."Well?"
Taiyang wasn't the best at lying, so a half-truth would have to do.
"I was worried that I would wake up and you'd be gone...I'm glad to see you here..it makes me feel…safe"
Raven's expression turned gentle. Climbing onto the bed , she handed him the plate.
"I didn't burn the kitchen down, but I'm not exactly a cook like you or summer, so-"
CRUNCH!
Raven jerked back as Taiyang devoured the food in front of him, before grabbing a water bottle near the nightstand, wetting a cloth, and wiping his face.
"I can still eat it without making an expression. So that has to count for something, right, Rae?"
Raven couldn't help laughing.
"I was going to wake you up, but you seemed so peaceful sleeping," she smiled.
"It didn't feel right to wake you."
"I was talking with Summer"
Raven's smile froze.
"It felt so real...but this time it wasn't a nightmare, because she reminded me"Taiyang whispered.
"Reminded you of what?" Raven was confused.
Taiyang grinned.
Raven remembered that grin.
She just hadn't seen it in so long.
"I still have something worth fighting for, and putting everything on the line for."
Taiyang answered.
Raven raised her eyebrow.
"Ruby, Yang, or Qrow?"
Taiyang smirked.
"Everyone, and you too, if you're willing to help."
Raven smiled warmly.
"All right. Since I made breakfast, you can do the dishes. I'll be waiting for you outside. "
Raven knelt down observing the Sunflowers...so fragile, so easy to destroy...yet like Roses...so beautiful, and so worthwhile to protect...
"Perhaps the strong survive and the weak perish...but nobody is born strong...we all have to become that way..."
Taiyang stepped outside, joining Raven by the flower bed.
Raven nodded. "And if one becomes weak, then it becomes necessary to regain that strength. "
Taiyang walked into the middle of the household backyard, assuming a martial arts stance.
Raven rose to her feet, hand on her sheath.
"No maiden powers, Sifu?" Taiyang quipped.
Raven grinned. "When I'm sure I can use them without you dying in the first 30 seconds, then I'll use them to whip your butt into shape"
The two former teammates/lovers assumed their fighting positions..
The wind rustled.
"BORK!"
The training fight began.