5 months, 5 months searching, 5 months searching for clues, clues, anything that will help her find Qrow, 5 tedious and worrying months of incessant search, the options were slowly running out, she had gone everywhere, even with friends and colleagues of her Qrow. And even with all that time of relentless searching, she couldn't find a clue of him.
That was why, driven by her instinct and strong intuition, her first clue in years led her to a secluded home, a small farm, but more than resembling a farm, it was a cabin located in a hidden point of the world.
Something told her that perhaps Raven or Tai would know something about him.
Especially Raven, her semblance could locate every person with whom she had a tie. She must try, She was her last resort to reach him. So she had to talk to her friends to finally find her Qrow.
She touched the set a couple of times, waiting for an almost immediate response... Although she didn't expect to hear the noise of pans and utensils falling to the floor.
"Wait a minute, I'm coming!" The voice of a young man shouted inside the house, Summer was completely missed, for a moment she thought that Tai would be working or doing something. But she never thought he was the first she would see when she got home. A moment passed between more noises and objects that fell to the ground along with a couple of curses, until she heard how the man finally unlocked the door and opened.
Tai's appearance was... Misaligned to say little, he looked tired and sad, with a beard of weeks and even months that seemed to bother him and dark circles covering his eyes with a dark cape. More than in a long training or combat session and it seemed like he was going to fall asleep at any moment.
"Oh... Summ! What... nice to see you. It's been a while." He said tired while accommodating the little girl with blond hair in his arms. It was strange that Tai looked that way, he always looked cheerful and energetic. It certainly wasn't typical of him.
"Oh... Tai, how... how have you been?" Asked the young woman really worried, did not know what had happened, could assume that Tai was playing the role of father, while Raven went to work. Although that was just a guess.
"Ah... I've been better." He answered running a hand over his exhausted face. "But that's not important, uh ... Don't stay out there, come in, come in." He said opening the door more while he turned to give space to his friend.
Summer was confused by his attitude, she believed that Tai was going through something completely normal, as a father he should give as much attention to his wife and daughter as he could... But her ideas cleared when she saw the inside of his home, it was almost in the same state as he. With frets and silverware piled up, things scattered everywhere, dirty clothes with a strange smell that combined with the foul smell of old diapers. And by taking a look at the kitchen, she could see that many odors came from there, along with some bottles thrown on the floor.
She could assume that Tai was no longer living with Raven, since order in that home was almost nonexistent. And if he assumed well what had happened, it was that both Tai and she had suffered the same fate with the Brawen siblings.
"Sorry for the mess... I haven't been able to clean; Yang keeps me busy all the time and... I have almost no rest..." He mentioned yawning long and heavily, removing a couple of containers and plates of food that were on the mattresses of the couch of the room.
"Just give me a moment, okay? Let me check a couple of things, if you want you can sit on the... couch... "
Summer watched as the seats were a little stained with grease and food, Tai sighed in embarrassment this was no way to receive guests and less to an old friend, but both he and his home were a disaster after Raven had left
"Excuse me... I've been very busy..." He said trying to clean as much as possible the seats with a cloth that was nearby.
"Eh ... Don't worry Tai. That's fine." Summer said sitting on the couch moving a couple of things away so she could better suit herself. Tai was going to say something, but his head was in everything and nothing at that moment, so he just hurried to say:
"Uhhh... I'll be right back; I swear it won't take me long." With this he ran as fast as he could up the stairs.
Summer's concern for Qrow had now been directed towards Tai and his home in a very bad state. No doubt Raven was not present in the house. The place was a complete mess, it wasn't that she believed that Tai was incapable of taking care of himself, but fatherhood on his own had to be a very demanding job, especially when the woman you spent years looking for her intention and affection leave from one day to another.
Summer sighed, this looked like another dead end, If Raven was not here, there is no way to get to Qrow and few were her hopes that Tai knew anything about it.
She didn't want to waste time anymore and she didn't wanted to make Tai waste his valuable time... but maybe it was because of the strong friendship they both had or because she really wanted to talk to someone in those moments. Summer waited patiently until Tai returned from whatever he was doing. After a while he finally went down, apparently tired.
In his eyes an unequaled exhaustion could be seen. He had a long face, his body seemed to tremble like jelly with every step he took. Then without more, he collapsed in the coach with little strength, while carving his eyes with one hand and with the other resting on his belly.
"Excuse me for making you wait... I had to make sure to give her bottle to Yang..." She expressed tiredly looking at Summer. "What's up Summ? Why did you come to visit me today? I mean... I don't mind your presence, it's just that I haven't had time to fix this place... And less to myself."
"Don't worry Tai. You... are you okay?" She finally asked approaching Tai, who looked like he was going to faint at any moment from fatigue.
"Yes! Yes... I'm ... I'm okay, I'm..."It was at that moment that one of the pictures of the house fell to the floor breaking the glass and the frame. "I'm not okay Summ ... I'm far from being okay..." He said resting his arms on his legs while holding his head.
"The last few months have been torture... Since Raven left, I don't had time for anything, either for my home or for myself. Everything is consumed by Yang's care... Who has not stopped crying since her mother left, it is difficult for me to try to calm her down or make her sleep at night, which has consumed me valuable hours of sleep and training, no I have been able to go on missions for Signal hunters for having to take care of Yang… And in a whole I have not been able to buy food because I don't have enough Lien, I spend everything on what yang needs. Besides, I have almost nothing left of Lien…"
"What... What happened to Raven?" Asked without appearing to hurt Tai with her words, but he just looked up covering his mouth with his hands. He didn't answer, in fact, he couldn't say a word, just remembering it made him even more sadder.
"It's what I would like to know ..." Tai answered with a shrug. "But... let's not talk about me... what's up Summer, do you need anything? If so... I don't have much to offer you, I barely have what it takes to support me and this house...
"Well..." Summer took a deep breath to sigh, as she moved closer to Tai to see him in the eye. "Qrow disappeared... I've... been looking for him for months, I've gone from kingdom to kingdom looking for any hint about him, I've even asked old colleagues who work with him and also with Special Operations, nobody knows anything... not even Ozpin himself knows what happened to him... And it worries me, I came to... know if you know anything about him, or if Raven could find him... But I see that she hasn't been here for a long time.
"Yeah... Sorry if I disappoint you... but I haven't heard from Qrow in a while either... and well... Raven left a long time ago too." He said sadly, looking away at a corner of the room.
"How long has it been that she left?" The silver-eyed woman asked again, forcing the man to cover his eyes because of sadness and tiredness.
"Almost 6 months... sorry Summ... you came all the way here just to give you another refusal..." He answered discouraged lowering his head. Summer again sighed in disappointment, she knew, another dead end... Both Qrow and Raven had disappeared and left them both.
Summer couldn't believe it… she didn't want to believe it, the man she loved had left her and hadn't told her where he had gone, she needed answers to the questions she asked herself for a long time, why Qrow was gone… and why Raven was gone and had left Tai alone with her newborn daughter.
None of this made sense, both Brawen siblings had abandoned them almost on the same dates, and neither gave an explanation as to why, both had been abandoned by people they considered their family and that was something that hurt them equally... While Summer watched Around her, seeing the disorder of dishes and unwelcome things, that gave her an idea... She looked at Tai and smiled.
"Hey... Do you need help in home Tai?" Summer asked cheerfully, despite the past of both Summer had already overcome her teenage romance with her former teammate, this didn't do it for it, this did more than anything because Tai needed all the help possible.
"Nope... nope Summ I could not accept that... I have to... take responsibility for my home and..." In the middle of the sentence he began to fall asleep, regaining consciousness at times. "Ah! No Summ... Thanks for to offer you... But I need to do this on my own... for my daughter, do you understand? -
"Yes, of course I understand Tai… But that black smoke that is coming out of the kitchen tells me something else." She said, forcing the blond-haired man to look behind his back, he got scared when he saw that.
"God damn, the beans!" He exclaimed, altered, running straight to the kitchen to put out the fire, the kitchen was a disaster, the pan was on fire and the fire extinguisher was a few inches away, he tried to turn off as quickly as he could. Fire in the kitchen, just to see his stove stained with dark broth and the beans were now scorched and strange versions of a raisin.
"Ah... it can't be... That was what I had to eat today..." He said pulling the fire extinguisher with frustration in his eyes.
"Tai... I think you should sit down..." She said quietly, taking him to one of the kitchen chairs, while pushing a couple of cans and more bottles off the table.
"For Remnant, Summ... I'm a damn mess... I can't take care of me, I can't take care of my house... damn I can hardly take care of Yang... since Raven left... I couldn't... Have an order in my life..." He said resting his elbows on the table and his head in his hands.
"I just don't know what to do ..." He mentioned, pressing his eyelids, so that next act, little Yang would start crying upstairs from the smoke that had reached her room. "Oh no... just what was missing, I guess... you must retire Summ I'll try to calm Yang I..." He was going to get up when Summer herself stopped him.
"Don't worry Tai, try to rest." Summer rose gently advancing towards the stairs but returned on his steps when noticing the insistence of her friend.
"No... no, I... I must..." Tai wanted to stand up again, but he felt his body so heavy that even with the slightest push of Summer enough to put it back in its place.
"Quiet, leave this to me Tai..." She gently moved away from his friend while he could only see how the silver-eyed girl was slowly moving away, it was inevitable, the touch of her hands had relaxed him so much that his eyelids were they closed and fell sound asleep.
Summer climbed the stairs following Yang's cries, to enter the room where the little girl cried vigorously, unlike the room and practically the whole house that was the only place where everything remained with an order, a small room with toys, stuffed animals and what was necessary for the little girl, who was crying in her crib because of the annoying smoke that had left the kitchen.
Summer in an almost maternal instinct approached to load it, the little girl feeling the contact of the young woman's hands looked at her, still with teary and somewhat annoying eyes she could feel the tranquility that emanated from that person she had never seen, despite that it was the first time they had seen each other for some reason, her presence calmed her and made her feel good.
Summer was surprised to see her, as it seemed she saw a smaller version of Raven or Tai, the girl's eyes were penetrating red and her hair was completely blond, just like Tai's.
"Shushhh calm, calm." She said rocking her quietly in her arms. "There, that's it, nothing small happened, it was just a scare." She approached one of the windows, to let the remains of the smoke out there feeling a breeze of fresh air.
"That's better, see? There is nothing to fear Yang." She said tenderly while lulling her little by little. As she listened to the words of the silver-eyed woman, she began to calm down, clutching her small hands to Summer's white cloack, who was smiling calmly at her.
"You're very pretty, you look like your dad, you have his hair... and those eyes are totally Raven's." He commented looking carefully and as he calmed down his eyes became lilac again, something that surprised Summer, but made her feel even more tender by the sight of that little girl in her arms.
After a while, Tai finally woke up, his head ached and he felt that he had slept for years, although it had only been a couple of hours, when he looked at one of the kitchen windows he realized that it was already night. And when he took a look better in the place everything was clean, the dishes, the stove, the floor, everything was in order, as if... Nothing bad had ever happened in the house.
When he got up he could feel that a blanket fell to the ground, someone had covered it with it, and although his limbs were still heavy he bent down to pick it up, moving slowly and awkwardly towards the room, where to his surprise all the garbage and food scraps had missing. And on the couch was Summer, who had managed to clean the stains, looked a bit worn out. But she held something in her hands, and just looked at it.
"Summ?" He asked confused by the presence of the woman still in his home. She turned her gaze and smiled.
"Oh, Tai... At last you wake up. You're a heavy sleeper huh?" The young woman said standing still in her place.
"What... what did you do?" He asked looking at his home almost without being able to believe that in a couple of hours he had managed to clean up all the accumulated disaster.
"Well ... I just cleaned a little, you know to help you have some order in your home." She replied arching a smile on her sweet face.
"Yeah, but ... you didn't have to do it Summ..." He replied sadly, scratching the back of his neck, looking away.
"Yes I had, although we no longer study at Beacon, we are still a team… And we all support each other, remember?" She moved away from her seat a little, making a gesture for him to sit next to her.
"Well... It's very nice of you that you... What's that?" Asked sitting on the couch and see what Summer held in her hands, was the same photo they had taken the day of graduation as hunters, the same he had in that frame that had fallen and broken.
"Oh... It's just our picture, do you remember that day?" She replyed by handing her the photo, which Tai took in his hands to appreciate and smile.
"Oh yes... How to forget? We almost had to drag Qrow to take the picture with us." He said funny to see himself in the picture. "And well... You were still a little shy in those times.
-Even if you don't believe it, I'm still a little ... - Summer commented with a smile.
"Sometimes I feel I can be more outgoing thanks to ... Qrow." He said in a sad whisper. Tone that Tai heard clearly feeling like a thought came to his mind.
"Yes... And without Raven... I would never have built this home..." He mentioned placing the photo on the nightstand in front of them.
"Good 'ol times…"
"Yes ... They were good times..." He ran a hand over his face relaxing in old memories until he remembered something important. He hadn't heard her cry in hours, which alarmed him so much.
"Hey, did you attend to Yang while he was sleeping?" Asked in dismay trying to get up from his seat. But the silver-eyed girl stopped him from doing so.
"Yes, I attended her well, don't worry Tai." She said quietly while helping him to sit down.
"Excuse me if it caused you many problems... I...
"Oh, don't worry Tai, Yang wasn't really a problem, she's a very sweet girl." She replyed happily to the situation missing in a way to Tai, who could not understand how Summer could be so calm, he had a hard time reassuring Yang on his own, how was it that she could achieve it?
"I mean, for a moment I felt scared of... Not knowing how to take care of her, but... It wasn't as difficult as I expected, I just tried to be sweet with her and try to calm her down by talking to her gently.
Hearing those words, Tai did not know how to feel, it was his first time being a father ... and being a single father as a whole. I really didn't understand how she could have done it in just a few hours. But that thought was that he collapsed on his seat feeling like a complete useless.
"I don't know how to do this alone; you know? I... I thought that with Raven by my side this would be easier... more... bearable, but now I realize that I do need help...
Summer looked at him in silence for a moment. She didn't want to lie either, to have helped Tai with his home and with Yang, it had made her temporarily forget that Qrow had disappeared. She didn't want to abandon his friend Tai in this way, he needed help... They both needed help. She didn't realize it before, but when she saw the time, she could see that it was already later than she expected.
"S... Sorry to say this Tai... but I have to go back to my apartment, and Beacon is not exactly close." Summer said in a sad tone.
"Oh... Yes I guess it is... and you... you still have to keep track of Qrow..." He mention tired while they both got up.
They were heading to the door while Tai thought about what Summer had done for him. And she still immersed in thousands of questions without an apparent answer ... He looked down the street seeing the accumulated garbage of those 5 months finally out of his home, he really needed help. He might not be the best accepting when he needed help from others ... But when he did need it, the best he could do was swallow his pride and simply ask for it.
-"umm ... thank you very much for helping me today, I'm serious, it was... a nice touch on your part." He said smiling while Summer herself nodded.
"Yes... it was... nice to be able to occupy my mind in something other than Qrow, at least for a day..." She replied, smiling back.
"Yes... I... Tai looked at her for a moment, meaning those words, asking for help, but maybe she wouldn't accept, looking for Qrow was much more important than his stupid life as a single and abandoned father, she had to go her own way and he had to become a man once and for all.
"Thanks for coming today Summ... It was nice to see you again."
"Hum ... no problem Tai." She replied, even knowing that her search would continue without taking her to anything, just having been able to spend time with an old friend made her practically forget that when she returned home there would be no one waiting for her, none person who told her that I miss her in her absence... or worried that she didn't know anything about her for hours... She didn't want to go back to that dark and lonely apartment, but she had no choice, with or without him... It was still her home...
"I... I guess I'll see you another time. Good luck looking for Qrow"
"Yes ... Take care of yourself and take care of Yang, please, she is a good girl just have patience, see you later... I hope." She said finally walking away slowly making a gesture with her hand in farewell.
As the seconds passed and Summer was leaving, they could both feel... As if saying goodbye at that moment was a mistake, as if the mere act of letting the other go was only to accept loneliness and return to the status quo. Summer would search and search nowhere to really look...
And Tai would continue to endure a mediocre life empty and for no other purpose than to be a drag on him and his daughter.
"Summer."
"Tai..."
The two talked at the same time, surprising the other instantly, just for a moment they felt weird, but then they started laughing.
"Je jeh, excuse me, I didn't want to interrupt you." Said the blond-haired man scratching his head in shame.
"No, don't excuse me... I didn't know you were going to tell me something." She also said distressed as she turned her silver gaze with shame. "Well... Tell me what did you want to tell me?
"No, no, tell me I... I was the one who interrupted you." He tried to say it, while working between each word and syllable.
"I... I just ... I wanted to know if you would let me come tomorrow, you know... To help you with whatever you need. And well... To keep you company." The girl with dark hair and red tips responded timidly, while her cheeks began to turn a similar color.
Tai simply heard that smiled, both... they were on the same page and shared the same thought. Which for a few moments made him feel happy.
"Of course, I... I have no way to pay you... But as soon as I have something, don't doubt that I will compensate you."
Summer was surprised by those words of Tai, but the surprise quickly became something funny which made her laugh at Tai's words, confusing him and making him feel nervous about such an answer.
"Tai, you don't have to compensate me for anything, we're a team, remember? And we…
"We support each other..." He said complementing Summer's words perfectly, making her smile calmly. -So ... see you tomorrow?
That question made her smile even more, accompanied by a calm and calm sigh.
"Yes… see you tomorrow Tai." He finally answered, to close the conversation.
And so, it was, that finally they both took their paths, with the golden promise of doing this more usual, not only because of the bond they shared as friends, but to close the wounds left by the people they loved, help each other and perhaps get ahead someday.
But for the moment they needed this, to get closer to each other to learn, heal ... And perhaps further strengthen the ties that had been established in the past.