Hello!

For this chap I'm not sure what I was going for, and the middle part just refused to be easy to write! Bad middle part! Very bad!

Also I was working on a new cosplay (not RWBY this time) for a contest, which necessitated to do a 5mm hem on 24m (26 yards) of satin … then gather it ... but it was worth it, because the skirt is so fluffy! Puffy? Anyway, I play with it all the time.

Now for the reviews:

merendinoemiliano: Thank you!

Isaasol2: I'll tell you a secret. *leans forward* I prefer Yang Branwen too.

Zwei Eis: Bad teachers suck! They can say something that will ruin your self-esteem for years and to them it was just a monday … And I took spanish classes for three years in middle school, but I wasn't very good at it (which sucks because I live super close to Spain), all I remember from it is the time the teacher stopped mid-sentence and said "I just swallowed a mosquito" then ran out of the room coughing for fifteen minutes. Priceless XD

thewittywhy: Raven really needed friends, she can't learn from only Tai's perspective.

Carre: Thanks! n_n

Guest-Questioner: … I didn't understand the question … I just called the girl Blanche because I like the name n_n'

DragonANGL: I meant native american, but since I have the general culture of a potato … But now I can't stop imagining Yang making herself a sari by cutting bed sheets and getting scolded by Raven afterward XD And Blanche is inspired by the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland.

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Raven was bored.

It was happening more and more often lately, when Yang and Ruby were at school and Taiyang was on a mission, she found herself home alone with not much to do. Sometimes she would do chores, sometimes she would accidentally find herself playing with her daughters' toys, sometimes she would read a book she didn't even know where it came from, sometimes she would take walks in the forest, sometimes she would find something interesting on TV, she had even done a complete overhaul of Omen when she hadn't taken it out of the closet in years… But after a few weeks, it wasn't enough to fill her days, at least not without feeling like she was wasting her time. She then came to the conclusion that she needed a hobby.

But what hobby? She had no idea, she had never had that luxury, she had been too busy surviving, then studying at Beacon, then getting used to civilian life. Now that all that was over, she had to find something else to do. Taiyang had suggested she talk to the other parents at school so she tried, but outside of Charly, Blanche's father, who often came by himself to chat with her when they were waiting for their children at the exit of the school, she hadn't had much success. She just couldn't care less about what was being said to her, let alone pretend to care, so she would always quickly ended the conversation before an awkward silence set in or her sarcastic side take over.

Talking calmly with people she didn't know without a specific reason was absolutely not for her, she had grown up having to be suspicious of everyone, never opening up for fear of being stabbed in the back, and with very few exceptions, she had always been right. But she didn't live in a tribe of bandits anymore, the people around her weren't thieves or killers, at least not that she knew about, it wouldn't be such a big deal if she said something weird or out of place, right? What was the worst that could happen?

… How many times had she said that to herself, only to quickly regret it afterward…?

She really needed to find something to do to occupy her days.

Raven turned her head to the alarm clock on the bedside table. She had been lying on her bed, their bed, for well over an hour now, wearing nothing but one of Taiyang's t-shirts and a pair of slippers, her damp hair tied back in a loose, messy braid. She had tried to take a nap after her shower, but apparently she wasn't tired enough. At least it was soon time to pick up the girls from school, after that the house would be bustling again.

Although she wasn't tired, Raven rolled over to the edge of the bed before getting up, and stretched as she made her way to the wardrobe. She grabbed her usual black skirt and her red and black kimono top, she hesitated for a moment to also wear her obi, it was beautiful and she liked it, but it was mainly used to support all the equipment she once had on her belt, including her sword, now it was only decorative, in addition to being a bit long to put on. In the end she left it in the closet, she didn't need it.

She reluctantly took off her husband oversized t-shirt, she liked Taiyang's smell, a mixture of burnt wood and lavender, sometimes with a bit of sweat that reminded her of their first nights together. She quickly slipped into clean underwear and tucked her legs into her favorite pleated skirt. She found it during a raid just before leaving for Beacon and hadn't stopped wearing it since, you could tell by looking at the zipper… which she had trouble closing. Weird. She had worn it last week and it still fit her very well. Did it shrink in the wash? No, the zipper was probably just too old, she just had to force it a bit.

Raven tugged harder on the slider with her right hand, while her left tried to bring the two sides closer together, which proved oddly difficult. Maybe her skirt did shrink after all. But it was his favorite! … Oh shit, she was starting to talk like Ruby…

In a last attempt, she jerked… and the slider remained in her hand after slipping out of the zipper, which was now definitely broken.

No more than a few seconds later, there was a knock on the door.

Raven sighed, a mixture of resignation and frustration, she threw the useless piece of metal on the bed and left her skirt on the floor before heading down the stairs to the entrance. There, she opened the door wide, and crossed her arms with an annoyed look on her face.

Qrow stared at her, blinking, hand still raised to knock again, then a big smirk appeared on his face.

"Does Tai knows you open the door in your underwear?" he asked her with a mocking laugh.

Raven rolled her eyes and stepped aside to let her brother enter. In twenty-seven years he had already seen her dressed less than that. "My skirt zipper broke three seconds before you knocked, more effective than a doorbell. And I'm past the age of being shy in my own house." she replied as she went upstairs to finish dressing up. She put on the first clothes she found and hurried downstairs, "So, what brings you to our small lost island?"

"What? I need a reason to visit my family now?" he asked sarcastically as he lied down on the couch.

Raven frowned, she knew that tone all too well. "What happened?" she asked him very seriously.

Qrow sighed and lifted the left side of his shirt, revealing a bandage with a small bloodstaine. "Just a bullet that scraped my rib, it'll probably leave a nice scar but there's nothing to worry about. And yes, I went through the hospital before coming."

Raven let out a long sigh of relief. She knew her brother was strong, and he had been able to come here on his own so it probably wasn't a big deal, but that didn't stop her from worrying about him. He was her little brother after all, even if it was only by a few minutes… and even though he was taller than her. …Actually she had no idea which of them came out first, but she had always taken the lead to protect them, find them clothes, food, shelter for the night, while Qrow would always listen to her and follow her around, trying not to be a burden like he said, even though she had obviously never thought of him as such. On the contrary, if she hadn't felt responsible for him, she would never have had the strength to hang on until they were picked up by the tribe, let alone after…

"There're painkillers in the bathroom if you need them." she said distractedly trying to hide her concern, but seeing the smirk on her brother's lips she was completely failing. Was he really making fun of her because she was worried about him?! What an asshole!

"Thanks, I'll probably need it in the next few days." he replied as if nothing had happened, "Do you mind if I stay, say, a week?"

Of course not. "That depends, are you gonna sit on your ass all day watching me do all the chores by myself for a week?"

"You would dare to exploit your poor beloved brother while he recovers from a terrible injury?" Qrow dramatically put a hand over his heart as if in shock.

"Of course, what kind of big sister would I be otherwise?" Raven replied as if it was obvious, then headed for the door to put on her shoes, "But if you really feel too exhausted to get your ass off the couch, I guess you can't come to pick up your nieces at school either. What a shame, they're gonna be so disappointed that you didn't put in the effort for them…"

"Has anyone ever told you you're a bitch?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Mom!"

Yang threw herself into her mother's arms as soon as she saw her outside the school. She had so much fun today! She had a lot of things to tell her!

Her mom hugged her, gently stroking her head, then let her go to give her little sister a hug.

"What about me? I don't get a hug?" a hoarse voice said, catching her attention. Yang turned around, and her smile brightened when she saw that her uncle Qrow was here too.

"Uncle Qrow!" she cried throwing herself into his arms, she didn't even know how she had jumped so high, she was just happy to see her uncle!

"Wow! Well, that's hospitality." he ruffled her hair, "So did you manage to drive your parents crazy while I was away?"

Yang laughed as she remembered when he gave her this mission the last time he came, "No, I tried with mom but it didn't work." Mom was scary when she was pissed off…

"Don't worry, I'll give you a hand." he assured her with a wink.

Yang jumped out of her uncle's arms, ready to tell him all the cool stuff she had done today, how she crushed everyone in dodgeball, or the book the teacher read to them. It was about a Turtle family shopping for Baby Turtle's birthday, but Big Brother Turtle ate all the cake, and then… and then she forgot. Oh! And they started to prepare an end-of-year show! She had to tell her mom!

Without wasting a second, she abandoned her uncle and ran back to her mom to tell her the great news, only to find her chatting with Blanche's dad.

"Well, if you're proposing, I don't see why I'd say no." her mom told him with a shrug, which made Ruby and Blanche jump excitingly. Since Miss. Marguerite had left, they had become best friends and they always played together in the park. Yang was a bit jealous, she didn't have a best friend…

"Great." Blanche's dad smiled. He was a little weird, he dressed all in purple, his clothes were too big for him, he had messy hair, and he smiled all the time. He didn't look mean, just weird. "Do you want me to drive her back or will you pick her up?"

"It would be great if you could drive her back, I can't really leave Yang home alone at night." Her mom replied, and Yang crossed her arms, puffing out her cheeks, she was perfectly capable of staying at home alone without doing anything stupid, she was five years old already!

"What about me? Am I invisible or something?" her uncle Qrow added. She completely forgot he was there!

"UNCLE QROW!" Without wasting a second, Ruby threw herself into their uncle's arms to give him a huge hug. "I'm so happy to see you!"

"And you'll be even happier to hear that I'm staying with you for a whole week."

Ruby's big puppy eyes widened as a smile slowly crept across her face, before she suddenly let out a shrill cry, drawing the attention of everyone around them and forcing Yang to cover her ears with her hands.

Although she couldn't hear, she saw their mom put her hand over Ruby's mouth and say something to her, frowning. Yang took her hands off her ears, and her little sister had stopped screaming. Phew…

"Sorry mommy…" her little sister said shyly.

Their mom sighed and turned to Blanche's dad, "What were we saying?"

The man chuckled, "Well, I said I didn't mind driving Ruby home, but I would understand if she'd rather stay home today after all."

Blanche frowned and tugged on her dad's sleeve to get his attention, "But I wanna play with Ruby!" she whined.

"Come on bunny, you can play with Ruby another day, but maybe today she wants to spend time with her uncle instead, don't you think?" he explained to her, stroking her head. Blanche still didn't look happy, and stamped her foot on the floor, crossing her arms.

"I want to play with Blanche too." Ruby interjected, before lowering her head sadly, "But I also want to see Uncle Qrow…"

"Go play with your friend, I told you I'm here all week."

Their mom thought for a moment, then seemed to have an idea. Obviously. Their mom always had good ideas! "What if Blanche came to play at our house instead?" she offered, taking Ruby from Uncle Qrow's arms and putting her on the ground.

"Yeah!" cried Ruby, jumping excitingly, while Blanche stopped sulking.

"Really? Daddy can I go? Please please please!" she begged, with puppy eyes, just like Ruby when she asked for candy.

"Sounds like a good compromise to me." her dad agreed, which made the two little girls smile even more, "Well if it doesn't bother 'Uncle Qrow'?"

"Just Qrow for you. And don't worry about me, she's the evil twin." he said, smirking and giving a little nod to their mom, who started to glare at him. Yang expected her to slap him on the back of the head or step on his foot like every time he made fun of her at her, but she did nothing more than growl very loudly.

So Blanche was going to come and play at their house today? It wasn't fair! Yang never had any friend coming over to play! She asked, but each time their parents had something to say, 'you have school tomorrow', 'you shouldn't be out at night', 'Simmons doesn't like going to the bathroom outside of home'… It really sucked, and moreover if Blanche came to their house, Ruby and she were going to play in their corner and she was going to have to play alone! It was so unfair!

Well in that case, she was going to play with uncle Qrow! She had lots of games to play with him and lots of super interesting things to tell him anyway!

"How long is she gonna stay like this?" Qrow asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Usually until I turn off the TV." Raven sighed.

With her back to them, Yang was sitting on the couch with a bowl of milkless cereal on her lap, completely hypnotized by her cartoon, something silly but funny about three little girls with superpowers fighting weird villains. She had been there for a good half hour, while Ruby and her school friend were upstairs playing. It was crazy the effect this stuff had on kids, while Qrow couldn't spend more than ten minutes in front of a screen before falling asleep.

"You know, you really impressed me earlier." he said to his sister as they walked into the kitchen. It was the place in the house where the adults could chat without the children, sometimes while drinking.

"Why? Because I didn't beat the shit out of you in front of the kids?" Raven asked, pulling a saucepan out of a cupboard.

"Yes that too." Because he had to admit it was big deal coming from her, "But I'm mostly talking about when you were chatting with the girl's dad. I'm not really used to seeing you talking to someone random without insulting them, being sarcastic or trying to avoid the conversation. Or all three at once"

Raven let out a small laugh and went to fill the saucepan with water. "It's not someone random, it's Blanche's father, Ruby and she have been best friends for a few weeks now so we often have the opportunity to chat. Pass me the eggs."

"Precisely, it's never really been your thing to make friends, or even just chat without being defensive." Qrow grabbed the box from the corner of the counter, as far as possible from the girls' reach surprisingly, and put it next to her, "I know it's huge progress for you. You can be proud."

Raven stopped in what she was doing and turned to him with an expression both shocked and confused, then frowned, as if struggling to decide whether he was still making fun of her or not. He was serious. He really was. He was very proud that she had tried so hard to adjust to a life almost completely opposite to what she had grown up in, not to mention all the obstacles along the way that seemed to be there only to discourage her, and he was really happy that it all paid off. If it had been him, he would have given up quickly.

It had been a source of conflict in their team for a while, after their teammates learned they were bandits, they had had a hard time understanding that adjusting to a 'good life' was just as difficult as the other way around. The fear of never fully adapting, of messing up something and messing up everything and going back to square one. … Raven had been very close to it at one point… But she had held on. She was still there, and she was doing better than he had ever seen her. And for that he was really proud of his sister.

Raven stared at him for a few more seconds, then a grateful smile formed on her lips as she let out a small sigh of relief, "You really mean it?"

"Of course." he assured her, then his smirk came back, "I mean, you, having a normal conversation? You who always had the communication skills of a seagull at a fries stall? Unbelievable."

This time she hit him for good with a slap on the back of the head. Usually she was aiming for the ribs, but even she was reasonable enough not to press directly on his wound. He still couldn't believe that he had been injured by a ricochet of his own gunshot. But it wasn't his fault, he couldn't guess people's Semblances! At least Raven hadn't asked him questions, or she'd still be laughing at him right now. She never asked him or Taiyang about missions, nor did they talk about it beyond letting her know when they were coming back and if they were hurt. Everything else was taboo.

"I may not be able to kick you out now that the girls know you're staying there, but I can very well make you sleep on the bathroom floor if I feel like it." she threatened, waving a metal spatula near his face. Whether it was because of the environment they grew up in or just because of their personalities, the twins had always found it natural to express their affection for each other by using as much insults as possible.

"And how are you gonna make me?" Qrow asked pushing away the spatula that was almost touching his nose, a smirk plastered on his face, "I may be hurt but you're not in top shape either."

Raven crossed her arms without letting go of her spatula, and glared at him with an outraged look on her face, "I'm still totally capable of kicking your ass here and now if I feel like it!"

"Said the girl who doesn't even fit in her skirt anymore." he replied before quickly ducking down to dodge a blow from the spatula that would probably have left a mark on his forehead, or even made him bleed. Ah, sibling love …

Raven groaned in frustration, her cheeks flushed with rage, "Are you implying I got fat?!"

"Yup." Qrow bent down to dodge another blow as if nothing had happened, "But that's not a bad thing you know, in the tribe you were almost underweight."

His sister opened her mouth, probably to tell him to fuck off, but froze upon realizing what he had just said, and her face went from frustration to shock to confusion, "Wait, really?"

"According to Ramy, yes."

Raven stared at him skeptically, then he could read on her face that she was probably thinking back to all the times that good old ram had insisted on giving her another whole bowl of food even when she kept telling him she was full. She ate normal portions, or at least the same as everyone else there, but she spent most of her days from morning till night fighting and training to exhaustion, always burning way more calories than she gained, every day for ten years, and even in Beacon she hadn't changed those habits that much. But now that she had been totally off fighting for years and ate as much as she wanted at every meal, there wasn't much to keep her from getting to a normal weight.

"Maybe…" she finally said after a long moment of thought. She then circled her bicep with her hand as she flexed her arm and frowned, "And I think I lost muscle too…"

"True." he admitted. It wasn't too worrying either, after all she wasn't a Huntress anymore, she didn't need to be able to do one-handed push-ups with someone sitting on her back. But he could understand that it bothered her, she had worked hard all her life to have those muscles so to start losing them because she was slacking must be frustrating, "You can always find yourself a sport to do if it bothers you so much."

Raven sighed and turned to put the eggs in the boiling water, "I've actually thought about it already. It's fucking boring to be here all day…" She put a lid on the pan and leaned back against the counter, running her hands over her face, then looked down at her stomach and lifted her T-shirt, revealing an absence of abs, replaced by a smooth stomach and a slight bulge above her skirt that looked a little too tight for her. A flash of annoyance crossed her face when she groaned, "I don't really mind gaining weight, but we don't have the money to redo my whole wardrobe because I no longer fit into my clothes."

Qrow opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by a loud, very angry high pitched voice…

"Mom!" Yang yelled with all the power of her five-year-old lungs as she threw herself into her mother's legs, "Mom! Ruby and Blanche won't let me play with them! They only want to play together!"

Qrow struggled to keep from laughing. Despite her age, the color of her eyes and her fiery blond hair, Yang looked exactly like her mother when she was really frustrated, the same flushed cheeks, the same frown, showing her teeth, fists tight… Yeah, she was definitely her mother's daughter.

"Well, you can always play with me instead. That's why I'm here. he offered, which immediately brought a big smile to her still red face. If only it had been so easy with Raven when they were teenagers…

"And then the princess manages to kill the dragon on her own without anyone helping her." the little rabbit Faunus cried, hitting the evil dragon plushie with her princess doll.

"Yeah!" Ruby threw her arms in the air, "But what does the Huntsman do then?" she asked her playmate, pointing at her knight doll.

"I don't know." Blanche shrugged, "He cleans up the mess? That's what my daddy does when mom tries to use the oven."

Ruby tilted her head in confusion, "Isn't your daddy a Huntsman?"

"No, he stays at home all day on the computer. Mom says he's working but I'm sure he actually plays games, he would be super bored all day otherwise." she explained.

"Ooh! My mommy says she does the housework and the shopping and the cooking, but I really think she plays with my dolls because they change places all the time when I come back from school." She didn't mind sharing her toys with her mommy, but it would be nice if she could ask first. Maybe she should put on a surveillance camera like the spies on TV! "And sometimes she also kills the Grimm around the house!"

"Your mommy is a Huntress?" Blanche asked in surprise.

"Of course. … I think." Ruby began to have doubts, it would make sense for her mommy to be a Huntress since her daddy, uncle and grandma were all Huntsmen, but she hadn't seen her mommy's super cool Huntress outfit for a long time now, and she didn't know if she really killing the Grimm on the island, she had never seen her do it. In fact, she didn't even know where she had heard that her mom was killing Grimm, maybe it was Yang who said it? In any case, she remembered seeing her dressed as a Huntress! Oh wait no, it was a Halloween costume…

"Oh. Well, she really doesn't look like one." the little white-haired girl said simply, not very impressed, before grabbing her bag to pull out an old wooden box of board games, "It's from my grandpa Alain, I have lots of games in it!"

Ruby immediately forgot what she was thinking about and focused her full attention on the mikados on the floor. She was very good at the mikados, she beat her daddy all the time, she was sure to win!

Hello again!

So how was it? It's a bit shorter than last time but I think it's fine. Writing children's thoughts is kinda funny because they get distracted so easily, so I don't have to find transition from scene to scene, they just turn their head and "Oh, a butterfly!" XD

Yes, Raven gained some weight. I mean, she stopped being a Huntress five years ago now, of course it had an impact on her body, nothing extreme, just enough for her brother to point it out, like any good brother. So if you have any idea of sports you would like to see Raven try, go on, she's taking notes!

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A bit more serious now, I would like to share something I though about a lot recently. If you do a little math, in V5, Yang is 18, and they say the Spring Maiden left 10 years ago, so when Yang was 8, but the Maiden powers can only go to girls under 30, which means that Raven was 30 or younger when Yang was 8, which means she had her when she was at best 22.

Now if you translate Raven's life to our world, you have a girl who was raised in a dangerous and violent environment where she had no choice but to do illegal and morally questionable stuff all her life to support both her and her brother without ever putting a foot in school, then suddenly at 17 was sent to college, got her first boyfriend, joined a cult, graduated at 20 or 21, was married with a kid by 22, then realized she was in a cult, escaped but had no one to turn to except the group of criminals she grew up with, and within 2 years her husband had had another kid with her best friend, who her daughter was already calling mom.

…

You know. One of the reason I have so much empathy for Raven is that something very similar happened in my family. I won't get into too much detail because it all happened long before I was born, but basically, the daughter grows up being told by everyone that her mother abandoned her as a baby but no one tells her why, she tries to look for her mother but her father doesn't let her without telling her why, and when she finally meets her mother later in life, her mother is happy to see her and welcomes her with open arms.

The exact same thing happened in real life to people I am very close with, except that the daughter actually gave a chance to her mother, and now they have a wonderful relationship. Of course there are a lot of differences, but it still hits very close.

Believe it or not, but I am actually crying for Raven as I'm writing this, because I genuinely feel sad for her and I want her to have a happy ending.