AN: Hey, everybody. Hope you had a good holiday. Sorry this took so long. Grad school really tends to kick my ass. Plus, I had a spat of writer's block. I find as a whole that this story takes freaking forever to write. My apologies.
In other news, I'm really enjoying Volume 7 so far. Here's hoping it can stay at a good quality.
Also, just a heads-up, I expect this chapter to be fairly controversial. You'll see why.
Chapter 8
Aqua blocked a swing from the large sword, bracing her Keyblade against her opponent's blade. She pushed the larger sword away before swinging at her enemy, who was able to duck under her attack. His sword folded downwards, revealing the shotgun barrel hidden underneath. He fired, and she deflected the bullets with her Keyblade before staring at his red eyes with a smirk. She could see a bead of sweat roll down his brow. Clearly he was expecting that attack to be more effective than it was.
It was almost cute that he thought it would work.
"Yeah, get him Aqua!" a young voice called from the side. Both Aqua and her opponent looked over to the three girls watching the fight. Ruby, Yang, and Cinder were watching in excitement, and Ruby was the one that had shouted.
"You can do it, Aqua!" Cinder shouted, just as enthusiastic to see the Keyblade Master in action as her student was. Cinder was wearing some of the clothes that Aqua had purchased for her when they first met a month ago, which consisted of a simple white blouse, a red skirt, and black shoes. Her black hair was brushed so it was draped over her left shoulder, a style that she had begun wearing it in regularly since the sisters had brushed it that way. Of course, Aqua and the girls approved. Now that she had been fed regularly and allowed to rest comfortably, she had started looking significantly healthier, making it apparent just how pretty the girl was. Aqua thought that when Cinder was a little older, she would probably have to start fighting the boys off with a stick. Aqua sighed at the thought. They really needed to find her parents, and fast.
Sitting in between Aqua's student and temporary ward (at least until they found her parents) was Yang, who had taken Aqua's advice and stopped wearing her hair in pigtails. While the girl loved her new style, that apparently wasn't enough for her to root for the woman.
"Kick her butt, Uncle Qrow!" the blonde yelled, causing both of the other girls to glare at her. Aqua and her sparring partner both chuckled at the three spectators.
"You hear that?" Qrow asked. "I got at least one of them cheering for me."
"Better not let her down, then," Aqua said.
"Hey, Yang!" he called out. "You're my new favorite!"
"What?!" Ruby shouted, shocked, horrified, and angry at having lost her "favorite niece" status. Yang, however, was angry for different reasons.
"What do you mean "new" favorite?!" Yang asked. "I wasn't already?!" Cinder could only laugh at the sisters' antics.
"Oh boy," Qrow sighed. "I'm gonna pay for that later, aren't I?"
"Probably," Aqua said.
"Kick his butt, Aqua!" the sisters both shouted at the same time, causing Cinder to start giggling uncontrollably.
"Well, you heard them," Aqua said with a smirk.
"Let's just get this over with," Qrow said with a sigh. He raised his sword to prepare himself for her attack. She charged at him, and the two of them clashed swords again. He pressed back against her Keyblade, when the blue glyph of her Semblance appeared on the ground underneath her.
"Hercules!" She shouted, and Qrow's eyes widened at the realization that he had never seen that summon before. A crystalline figure appeared, just like normal, but this one was a scrawny teenage boy wearing a toga. Qrow's surprise faded into disappointment at the unassuming looks of the summon, only to double over in pain when the boy punched him in the stomach.
"What the hell?" he coughed out, and then the summon of Hercules grabbed him by the ankle, spun around several times, and threw him through the air, causing him to lose his grip on his sword, the weapon flying away from him. He landed on his back, but before he could recover, Aqua quickly sat over him and pressed the "blade" of her Keyblade against his throat.
"Gotcha," she said. "Give up?" He let the back of his head hit the ground in defeat.
"Can we go back to when you didn't have your Semblance?" he asked. "I used to win then." He lifted his head back up to look at her, and raised an amused eyebrow. "Well, this is awfully forward of you, huh, Wonder Woman?" Confused, she looked down and realized why he was so amused.
In order to press her Keyblade against his throat, she had to practically straddle him. She was only on one knee, granted, but the close proximity of their bodies was enough to have her blushing profusely. She immediately stood up and took several steps back, refusing to make eye contact with him.
"Jerk!" she yelled, causing him to chuckle as he picked himself up.
"Sorry, sorry," he said. "I just couldn't resist."
"Whatever," she said, still refusing to meet his totally-not-gorgeous eyes.
"So," he said, trying to change the subject, "that was a new summon."
"That was Hercules," she said. In her many spars with Qrow since unlocking her Semblance, she had come to realize that it allowed her to summon copies of her friends. However, she was not able to summon Terra, Ven, or Master Eraqus, leading her to believe that the friends she could summon had to still be alive, or at least still have their hearts. Distressingly, she also found that she couldn't summon Zack, leaving her to wonder what had happened to him.
"Who's that?" Qrow took her out of her thoughts about her friends with his question.
"I met him on a world called Olympus Coliseum. He's the son of Zeus, the King of the Gods."
"So that strength that threw me like a ragdoll was divine? Well, that's slightly less emasculating." Aqua chuckled, finally fully getting over her embarrassment from earlier, when she heard a few sets of feet approaching. They turned around and saw the three girls approaching them. Ruby and Yang had huge smiles on their faces, while Cinder had a light blush on her face. Evidently, the girl, being older than the sisters, noticed exactly how close Aqua and Qrow's bodies were earlier, and just like that, Aqua's blush returned.
"That was awesome, Aqua!" Ruby yelled excitedly.
"Yeah, you kicked his butt!" Yang yelled, and the girls' praise caused Aqua to smile. The sisters sent a glare Qrow's way, causing the blue-haired Master to start laughing.
"Alright," Qrow said in defeat, "I'm sorry about the whole 'favorite niece' thing. It was just a joke. You're both my favorites."
"Really?" Ruby asked suspiciously.
"Would I lie to you?" He asked.
"Yes," the girls said at the same time without a second of hesitation, causing Aqua and Cinder to laugh.
"Yeah, I guess I walked into that one," Qrow said, taking out his flask and taking a swig.
"Alright," Aqua said, still giggling a little bit, "I'm getting hungry. Why don't we go inside and get lunch?"
"How are you hungry?" Cinder asked. "You barely broke a sweat."
"Oh come on!" Qrow yelled indignantly. "Even you, Cinder?" Cinder's only response was to playfully stick her tongue out at the older Huntsman.
"Okay, that's enough teasing," Aqua said, gesturing towards the house. "Leave him alone. Let's go eat."
"No fair!" Aqua yelled, gripping her Scroll tightly in anger. "My controller froze up!" Qrow just sent her a cheeky grin. She glared at him in return. After they ate lunch, Qrow had insisted that the two of them play some fighting game called "Kung Fu Ninja Slayer Ultimate Death Battle", whatever that name was supposed to mean. She immediately knew it was to make up for losing their spar earlier, but her controller stopped working repeatedly during the fight. She then realized that it must have been his Semblance that caused it. This must have been his plan all along. Jerk.
"Sure, blame the controller," Qrow said, his smirk widening into a full smile. "Likely excuse."
"It happens every time I play against him, too," Yang said, sitting on the couch next to Aqua, watching the two of them play. "It's weird, right?" Yang's words caused Aqua to look at the older Huntsman in sheer disappointment. It seemed he made a habit out of exploiting his Semblance to cheat at video games.
"Do you have no shame?" Aqua asked him.
"Nope," he said, popping the "p" sound, making Aqua scoff. "Wanna go again?"
"No, thanks," Aqua said, handing the controller to Yang while she got up and walked over to the kitchen table. Ruby and Cinder were sitting there, Ruby using crayons to color in a picture, and Cinder looking over her. The picture was of a cabin in a forest, and Aqua couldn't help but feel like it strongly resembled the Xiao Long/Rose household. "Where'd you get the picture from?"
"Cindy drew it!" Ruby said excitedly, not looking up from coloring in the picture. Aqua raised her eyebrows towards the older girl in surprise.
"Really?" Aqua asked, and Cinder nodded nervously. "Wow. That's really good."
"You mean it?" Cinder asked.
"Yes, I do," Aqua said with a smile. "That's this house, right?"
"Yeah," Cinder said. "I just did it from memory. Ruby saw it and asked to color it in."
"Awwwwww," Aqua cooed, causing Cinder to blush profusely. "That's so cute!"
"Stop," Cinder whined. "It's not that big a deal."
"Done!" Ruby said excitedly, holding up the drawing she finished coloring. It definitely depicted the house they were currently sitting in, colored brown, with the forest in the background colored appropriately. It was a little sloppy, but she was a little kid, after all.
"Good job, Ruby!" Aqua said with a smile, patting her head affectionately, causing the girl to smile up at her.
"Cindy's really good at drawing," Ruby said. "Can you draw me another picture to color?"
"Sure," the older girl said with a smile, reaching for another piece of paper and her pencil. As she did that, Tai walked into the room from the kitchen.
"Daddy, look at what I did!" Ruby said, showing him the picture she just colored.
"Very nice," he said with a smile.
"Cindy drew it for me."
"Really?"
"Yes," Cinder said, now getting a little bit aggravated at how big of a deal her drawing abilities were.
"Nice job." He walked into the doorway to the living room to get his brother-in-law's attention. "Qrow, I've got everything set up for tomorrow. You'll be able to make it, right?"
"Wait, it's tomorrow?" Qrow asked. Aqua left her position next to Ruby and Cinder and walked towards the living room to listen to them. She was just in time to see Qrow check the date on his Scroll. "Ah, shit, it is."
"Swear!" Ruby called out from her chair.
"Sorry!" Qrow called back.
"So, can you make it?" Tai asked him again.
"Of course I can. I wouldn't miss this."
"What's tomorrow?" Aqua asked, only to become instantly uncomfortable with the sadness in the eyes of the men as they turned to look at her.
"Tomorrow is—or would be—Summer's birthday," Tai said. "We're going to go visit her grave."
"It's only her second birthday since we lost her," Qrow said.
"Hey, Dad," Yang said, turning around to face them, "Can Aqua and Cinder come with us?"
"What?" Aqua asked, completely stunned at Yang's request.
"Yeah!" Ruby agreed. "I want them to meet Mommy!" The men looked at each other for a second before Qrow shrugged nonchalantly.
"Sure, they can come with us," Tai said to his daughters, surprising Aqua and Cinder.
"Really?" Aqua asked. "You're okay with us being there?"
"Yeah," Cinder agreed with the older woman. "Isn't this more of a family thing?"
"You two are family, though," Yang said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"We are?" Cinder asked, taken aback with a huge blush on her face.
"Yup," Ruby said. "Aqua told us that anyone can be family if you want them to, and we want you to be family."
"Exactly," Tai said, "Therefore, it's only fitting that you go with us to see Summer's grave."
"Well then I have no problem with it." Aqua said. "What about you, Cinder?"
"If it's really okay," she said, still a little uncertain.
"Absolutely," Tai said, smiling at her.
"Then yes, I'd like to go with you all."
"Yay!" Ruby shouted. "Mommy will love you!"
"Yeah, I'm sure she will," Qrow said quietly.
"Hey Aqua, wanna play against me?" Yang asked from the couch.
"What? Don't wanna play with me anymore?" Qrow asked the blonde.
"No, you're not fun to play against," Yang said matter-of-factly.
"Fine then, I'm gonna spend time with my fun niece."
"Whatever," Yang said, not falling for the bait this time. Qrow just stood up, deflated, and shuffled over to where Ruby and Cinder were sitting. Aqua chuckled at the older Huntsman as she sat down on the couch next to Yang, grabbing a controller.
The next day, things were tense at the Xiao Long/Rose household almost as soon as Aqua and Cinder arrived. Ruby and Yang were ready to go, but evidently Tai was having some problems, since Qrow was currently outside the blond man's bedroom door, trying to coax the man out of his room.
"Tai, come on!" Qrow called at the door.
"Hold on!" the blond man yelled from the other side of the door.
"Is there a problem?" Aqua asked. She had left Cinder downstairs with Ruby and Yang while she went upstairs to see what was going on.
"For some reason Tai won't come out of his room," Qrow answered, pulling out his flask and taking a swig.
"Just give me a few minutes!" Tai yelled from his room again.
"Tai, what's wrong?" Aqua asked through the door. "You know you can talk to us." She heard the lock click, and the door opened slightly, allowing Tai to stick his head out of the door.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm just having a tough time right now."
"Well, do you need anything?" she asked, looking at him in concern.
"I just need a few minutes. You and Qrow can take the girls and go ahead of me. I'll catch up."
"Are you sure, Tai?" Qrow asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine in a couple minutes. Just go on ahead." Aqua and Qrow shared a look at each other before turning back to look at Tai.
"If you're absolutely sure," Aqua said uncertainly.
"Yeah, I'm sure. Just go." He pulled his head back inside his bedroom, closing the door behind him. Aqua and Qrow shared another concerned look before Qrow shrugged uncertainly. He turned around to walk down the stairs. Aqua sent another glance at the closed bedroom door before following him down the stairs. The adults walked over to the three girls sitting on the couch.
"Where's dad?" Yang asked. Qrow rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, gesturing for Aqua to tell them.
Traitor, she thought, before looking back at the girls.
"Um, he said to go on without him. He needs a few minutes. He'll catch up."
"Is he okay?" Cinder asked.
"Yeah," Aqua answered a little uncertainly, "I think he's just overwhelmed." That answer seemed to satisfy Cinder and Yang, but Ruby looked confused.
"What does that mean?" the girl asked.
"It means he's feeling a lot of emotions, and is having a hard time dealing with them."
"That sounds scary," Ruby replied with a frown.
"It can be," Aqua said with a sad smile. "But, he can handle it. I have faith."
"You and me both," Qrow said, but it didn't quite sound like even he believed it. Aqua sent him a concerned look, but the older Huntsman just shrugged uncertainly.
She really hoped it was true, and that he'd be able to handle whatever it was he was going through. Something about this just gave her a bad feeling, and she could tell that Qrow felt the same way. She quashed it to avoid worrying the girls.
"Alright, let's head out," Qrow said, clearly trying to make sure the girls didn't think about it too much. Cinder looked at the two of them suspiciously, but Aqua sent her best attempt at a reassuring smile before getting up to head to the front door. She opened it up, and gestured for the three girls and man to leave.
Qrow guided the three girls and the Keyblade Master to their destination. They traveled through the woods of Patch, the man himself remaining quiet the whole trip while Ruby chatted animatedly with her sister, friend, and teacher.
Qrow had traveled to a lot of places in his work for Ozpin. From the harsh deserts of Vacuo, to the bandit-riddled forests of Mistral, to nests of some the nastiest Grimm he had ever seen. And yet, despite everything he's seen and everywhere he's been, there remained one place that he knew was his absolute least favorite place in all of Remnant. And he was guiding his family there.
The group of five came out of the woods and stepped out onto a cliff overlooking the sea. Under ordinary circumstances, the view would be gorgeous, but there was one major blemish that ruined the whole scene and made Qrow sick to his stomach to look at. Stuck in the ground near the cliff's edge was a square stone. Engraved on it was a rose emblem. As the group approached the stone, they could see words etched underneath it. Two simple lines of text, six words that served as proof that their family's lives had been turned upside down one fateful night a little over a year ago.
Summer Rose
Thus Kindly I Scatter
She didn't deserve this. She should've been home with her daughters, watching movies, making cookies, and experiencing the joys of watching them grow up. Instead, she disappeared on a mission and all they had to remember her by was a damn rock in the ground. Ozpin hadn't even known the particulars of her last mission. She just left and never came back. She wasn't like Raven. She actually loved those girls, Tai, and…
She wouldn't have just left them. That's how Qrow knew something had happened to her when she didn't return. Since no one knew where she was going, he had no idea where to begin looking for her. One thing was for certain, though. She had something to do with it.
It must have been those beautiful silver eyes of Summer's. Ozpin had explained to her, to all of Team STRQ what her silver eyes meant. He had no doubt it led her right to his old leader and partner. And now his niece had them, too.
When Summer became a mom, it brought her so much joy when she learned that her little rosebud had inherited her eye color, and it made Qrow happy, too, at first. But after it happened, it just gave him anxiety. He loved Ruby's eyes, really, he did. They really helped her to look just like a miniature Summer, but he also knew that she would eventually come for her, just like her mom. It was part of the reason why he agreed so readily with Aqua about training her with that fancy Keyblade weapon. If it was going to help her stay alive against the forces coming for her, then he would never say no.
He had to choke down the bile that threatened to come up his throat as the group finally approached the gravestone. There it was right in front of him, taunting him. Brothers, he hated coming here. The stone always made it feel too real. That she was gone. That he'd never see her again. That he'd never be able to tell her how he felt. Don't get him wrong, he knew he never would, but there was a difference between choosing to never do something, and having that choice taken away. That one hurt a lot more.
The group stopped in front of the grave, Aqua, Cinder and Yang having more solemn expressions on their faces than his distraught, nauseous one. Ruby, on the other hand…
"Happy birthday, Mommy!" she exclaimed happily. Bless her heart. It really seemed like absolutely nothing could get her down. She was reminding him more of Summer every day. She was hopelessly optimistic all the time, too. It was one of the things he loved most about her. Thankfully, Ruby's typical exuberance helped to bring the mood back up, if only a little, if the amused smile on Aqua's face was any indication. "I miss you! So, I've been good. Yang's been helping me read, and Daddy and Uncle Qrow have been really good. Oh, and I started training with new weapon! It's called a Keyblade and it's like the coolest thing ever!" She rattled on and on about the Keyblade for several minutes before Aqua finally stopped her.
"Ruby, don't you think Yang wants to talk to your mom, too?" Ruby at least had the good graces to look sheepish at that.
"Sorry, Yang," she said, an embarrassed blush on her face.
"It's okay, sis," Yang said, giving Ruby a quick hug before walking up to the grave. "Hey, Mom," she said somberly. "How are you? I guess you can't really answer that, huh?" She rubbed the back of her head nervously, clearly uncomfortable with the whole situation. "Oh, uh, happy birthday." She paused for a second, and Qrow could hear her breathing become more strained. "I just miss you so much." He could hear her fighting back the tears. Despite his best efforts, he could feel his own starting to well up.
No, he thought. No, I'm not going to cry. They don't need to see that. He couldn't help it. Just as Yang said, he really missed Summer. He had never stopped thinking about her since the day he—they—lost her. They lost her. He had to remind himself that he wasn't the only one in mourning. He had just been doing it longer. Despite his promise to himself, he still felt the tears threatening to bubble to the surface. He tried to lift his right hand to wipe the tears away, but found that it wouldn't move. That was weird. He looked down to inspect the problem, and was surprised to find another hand gripping his tightly. He followed the hand, up the arm, past the shoulder, and saw a head of blue hair. That's when it finally dawned on him. Aqua was holding his hand. When did she do that? He thought. "Aqua?" he asked, getting her attention. She turned to look at him, and saw the glistening in his eyes, and gave him a smile.
He was speechless. Was her smile always that beautiful?
"It's okay," she said. "You can let it out. I'm here for you." There was something about Aqua's words or her tone of voice that was reassuring to him. And so he finally allowed himself what to do what he denied for the last year.
He cried.
Aqua watched as Ruby, Yang, and Cinder conversed with each other around Summer's grave. She had her opportunity to "meet" Summer after she was finished comforting Qrow. She knew how major it was for him that he finally allowed himself to cry. He really came across as someone who really didn't like to show his emotions, so it was great that he finally let it out. But there was one thing that bothered her.
When had she taken his hand? She genuinely couldn't remember doing it. She just turned around after he called her name and realized that they were holding hands. Not that it was necessarily unpleasant.
Where did that come from? She asked herself at that thought. She looked over at the Huntsman in question, and he was looking at his scroll with a concerned look on his face.
"What's up?" she asked. He looked up at her and showed her the time on his scroll.
"We've been here for over two hours," he said.
"Really? It's been that long?" He nodded, but he still looked troubled. "So what's the matter?"
"Who still hasn't shown up?" He asked her. She looked around and saw Ruby, Yang, and Cinder still talking to each other, and then to the two of them. And then it hit her.
"Tai," she whispered in realization.
"Yeah," Qrow said. "He told us he'd be right behind us. So what the hell's taking him so long?"
"You're right," she said, quickly growing just as concerned as he was. "He should've been here a long time ago."
"I have a really bad feeling about this," Qrow said, looking back in the direction of the cabin.
"Yeah, me too," Aqua said.
"Get the girls. We're gonna go check on him."
It was eerily quiet when the group walked back into the Xiao Long/Rose household. Aqua was instantly on edge. She and Qrow looked around the first floor of the household, but they couldn't find Tai anywhere.
"Tai!" Qrow called out. There was no answer. If Aqua wasn't worried before, she definitely was now.
"Tai! Are you here?!" Aqua called out to him, still without receiving a response. The three girls with them were shifting uncomfortably behind them.
"Where's Daddy?" Ruby asked.
"I don't know, sweetheart," Aqua said, doing her best to keep her voice calm. Cinder walked up to her and whispered into her ear.
"What's going on?" she asked the blue-haired Keyblade Master. "I can tell something's up." Ah, yes. Aqua forgot that since Cinder was older than the sisters, her token efforts to keep them from worrying weren't going to work on her. She was far more clued in that something was wrong.
"I don't know," Aqua said simply. "We're about to find out. I really hope that he went a different way and we just passed him. It's better than something bad happening to him." She gestured towards the sisters. "Just keep an eye on them, okay?" Cinder simply nodded.
"Let's check upstairs," Qrow said, approaching the two of them. Aqua nodded, and the group approached the stairs.
"Tai!" Qrow called again. Still no answer. "You here?!"
"Let's go," Aqua said, and the group walked up the stairs and approached Tai's bedroom door, which was still closed. She knocked on the door. No response. She called his name once again. No response. She tried to open the door. It was locked. The bedroom doors in this house only locked from the inside, which meant he never left his room. Aqua began to feel an intense sense of dread, and she hoped that it didn't mean the worst. "Tai, are you in there?" She called out to him one last time, hoping desperately that he'd respond. He didn't. She looked at Qrow, who nodded solemnly at her. "Tai, I'm coming in!" She summoned her Keyblade to her hand and pointed it at the lock. A beam of light shot from her Keyblade and towards the door lock. The group heard a "click", and it soon as the door was unlocked, Qrow barreled through it, desperate to find in brother-in-law. He froze almost as soon as he stepped into the room. Aqua followed him and was about to ask what was wrong, but then she looked down.
Laying on the floor was Tai. Aqua only allowed herself to be shocked for a few seconds before she found herself kneeling down next to him, trying to shake him awake, calling out his name. He wasn't responding. Qrow was right behind her, also trying to get Tai to wake up. Next to Tai was five empty bottles of whiskey, and it started to become apparent what had happened.
"Tai!" Qrow yelled, rolling the blond man over. "Get up!" While Qrow was trying to wake him up, Aqua placed her ear against his chest. Nothing.
"He's not breathing!" She said in alarm.
"Daddy?" Ruby asked, as the three girls looked into the bedroom. Their eyes widened when they saw their father lying on the floor.
"Dad!" Yang yelled, trying to push past her sister and Cinder.
"Cinder, get them out of here!" Aqua yelled, and Cinder quickly grabbed the other two girls before they could force their way into the room. The absolute last thing those girls needed to see was their father unresponsive on the floor.
"Dad!" Yang yelled again. "Let me go! What's wrong with him?! DAD!"
"Daddy!" Ruby yelled.
"Stop!" Cinder yelled, trying to wrestle with the girls.
"Get them out of here!" Aqua yelled again. Cinder, being older and taller than them, was able to wrestle the sisters out into the hallway.
"And call an ambulance!" Qrow called as she dragged the sisters kicking and screaming down the hall. He turned his attention back to the blond man, and began doing chest compressions to get his heart started again. "Come on, you son of a bitch," he muttered as he performed CPR. "Don't you dare do this to us."
"What happened to him?" Aqua said, trying her best to stay calm.
"His heart stopped. It looks like he drowned himself in alcohol while we were gone. Damn it! I knew something was up! Why the hell didn't I just listen to my gut?"
"What can we do to help him?"
"This CPR isn't working. We need to shock him. You got any magic that can do the trick?"
"Yeah, move," she said, summoning her Keyblade. She approached the prone form of Tai and pointed her weapon at his chest. "Thunder!" she shouted, and a bolt of lighting shot out the tip of her Keyblade and hit Tai square in the chest. His body jolted and his eyes shot open. He gasped for breath before promptly turning on his side and vomiting violently. Aqua and Qrow both tried calling his name again, but he fell unconscious again. Qrow placed his ear against Tai's chest to check his heart beat, and from his visible sigh of relief, she could tell it worked. She gave her own sigh, but she knew the danger hadn't passed. Thankfully, it was at that moment that they heard sirens from outside the house. They knew this meant that he'd get some real medical attention, allowing the two of them to finally relax.
"What a fucking mess," Qrow muttered from his seat next to Tai's hospital bed. The man himself was still unconscious. According to the doctor, he had consumed an insane amount of alcohol all at once, and if Aqua had waited any longer to get his heart started, then he definitely would have died. The doctor also said that he should be regaining consciousness soon.
"I just can't believe this happened," Aqua said from her seat next to Qrow. It was just the three adults in the hospital room, as they had left Cinder with Ruby and Yang in the waiting room. They were going to wait to see him until after Aqua and Qrow had spoken to him.
"I guess something like this was bound to happen eventually with his problems," Qrow commented.
"It never should have come to this."
"I know." They heard a moaning sound coming from Tai's hospital bed, and they looked at him to see his blue eyes flutter open.
"Qrow? Aqua?" He asked when he noticed the other two adults present in the room. "What happened?"
"You don't remember?" Qrow asked angrily. "You almost killed yourself." Tai looked down in shame, clearly remembering all of the alcohol he drank.
"Tai," Aqua said. "What happened to you?" He buried his face in his hands and gave the deepest sigh she had ever heard in her life.
"I fucked up," he said. "That's what happened."
"Tai," Qrow said. "You don't fuck up like this. How did this happen?"
"I don't know, okay? I just got thinking about Summer, and I just started drinking. I couldn't stop."
"Why couldn't you talk to us?" Aqua asked. "We could have done something to help."
"I don't know," Tai said again.
"Tai, I thought you were past this," Qrow said. "You can't do this. They need you. Those girls are relying on you to take care of them."
"Well maybe they shouldn't," Tai said quietly. Aqua and Qrow were stunned.
"What did you just say?" Aqua asked, her eyes wide open.
"Maybe they shouldn't rely on me," he said a little more loudly. Aqua could see tears beginning form in his eyes.
"What does that mean?" Qrow asked cautiously.
"I can't do this," he said, letting the tears flow freely. "I'm a mess. My daughters need me to be there for them, but I can't. I'm just a worthless drunk. And my girls are suffering while I can't get my shit together. I just can't do it. What the hell kind of father am I?" He buried his face into his hands and wept openly. Aqua and Qrow just looked at each other and the blond man in shock.
"Tai," Aqua said in concern.
"I just can't do this."
"Tai, what do you need?" Tai took a deep breath and looked Aqua straight in the eyes.
"I need you to move in."
"What?" Aqua and Qrow both asked.
"I want you to move in and help me take of the girls."
"Tai, hold on," Qrow said. "I know Aqua's been training Ruby and taking care of Cinder, but you can't just foist your own daughters onto her on top of that."
"They need more than I can provide for them."
"But it's not fair to her. You're basically asking her to go from being a teacher to a freaking mother of three."
"Well what do you want me to do?!" Tai roared.
"I want you to get your shit together and raise your daughters your own damn self!"
"I can't do it!"
"ENOUGH!" Aqua yelled, silencing the two men. They stopped their argument to look at her. "I'll do it."
"What?" Qrow asked, while Tai looked visibly relieved. "Aqua, you can't be serious."
"I am serious. As much as I don't like Tai trying to pass the girls to me, he has a point. As long as he's like this, those girls aren't going to be taken care of properly. So I'll do it. I'll move in to help take care of them."
"Thank you so much, Aqua," Tai said, the relief evident on his face.
"But," she said quickly, stopping him in his tracks, "I need your word that you WILL work on getting yourself cleaned up. You will not use me being there as an excuse to not get better. Am I understood?"
"Yes, you are," Tai said, nodding his head eagerly. "Thank you so much."
"Aqua, are you sure about this?" Qrow asked. "You're already taking care of Cinder, are you sure you want to take this on, too? Taking care of three girls by yourself?"
"Oh, but I won't be by myself," Aqua said with a sly smile. "Because you'll be moving in, too."
"…Pardon?"
"I'm going to need help. So you'll need to move in, too."
"But I only have one guest bedroom," Tai said.
"We'll get a second bed for that room, then. Cinder can stay in the girls' room, and Qrow and I can stay in the guest bedroom. Problem solved."
"Well, yeah, I guess that solves that problem," Tai said, but Qrow still looked nervous about the idea.
"Is there still a problem, Qrow?" she asked. He looked down, refusing to meet her eyes. And then she remembered something he said earlier. "Is it your Semblance?" His widened a little bit, and he looked up to meet her eyes. "I thought so."
"I don't think me being around is a good idea. I don't want any of you getting hurt because of me." Aqua sat in thought for a few minutes.
"If it makes you feel better, you don't have to move in," she finally said. "But I expect you to help me anyway. Is that a good compromise?" He still looked uncertain. "Look, Qrow, I understand being afraid of your Semblance, considering what it is, but trust me, Ruby and Yang love you and want to spend time with you. When they get older, and realize what your Semblance is, this time now when you put your fear of yourself aside for their sake will mean the world to them. I know it's scary, but you just have to give yourself a chance."
"Alright," he finally said with a small chuckle, "you drive a hard bargain Wonder Woman. Fine. I won't move in, yet, but I will stick around to help you with them. And you, Tai," he said turning and pointing to the blond man, "I expect nothing less than your all in getting clean."
"I promise," Tai said.
"Well, we'll see how much a promise is worth."
"If we're all set here, I'll go get the girls," Aqua said. "We have a lot to talk about." Aqua got up from her seat, and walked out the door to the waiting room, where Cinder was sitting with Yang and Ruby, the latter girl in Cinder's lap while Cinder pat her back soothingly, trying to keep her calm. "Girls," she called, "He's awake." Yang and Ruby shot to their feet and ran towards his room, blowing straight past Aqua and leaving Cinder behind. Aqua smiled at the sisters before looking at Cinder approvingly. Her caring behavior towards Ruby made the next part much easier.
"What?" Cinder asked. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I saw how you were comforting Ruby. Good job." Cinder blushed.
"Of course. What else would I do?"
"So, Tai and I have reached an agreement."
"What agreement?"
"How would you feel if I told you that you and I were moving into their house?"
So, I feel it best to explain myself before I'm accused of character bashing. I'm not saying anything against Tai as a character, as I like his canon version a lot. But, what I wanted to do here was give a somewhat realistic portrayal of what fighting alcoholism is like, with the heartbreak, the loss of trust, and near-death experiences, and of course, the relapses. I mentioned briefly last chapter that Ruby's kidnapping caused a relapse, which came to a head here when he gave himself alcohol poisoning. Another reason why I did this was because I needed an excuse for Aqua to take over raising the girls. My goal with this story is to have a Ruby and Yang that was raised by Aqua as a genuine mother figure for them, so I needed something to happen to Tai that would stop him from raising them himself. It took me a while to decide on the particulars, but I eventually settled on him getting alcohol poisoning and completely losing his confidence.
This also lets me demonstrate the unintended negative consequences of Aqua's appearance on Remnant. While Ruby will likely end up much stronger and of course have the benefits of growing up with a female role model, there are some unintended consequences. I've always imagined that canon Tai had a drinking problem after Summer's death, but Yang and Ruby almost dying got him to get his act together. However, with Aqua here and Ruby getting a Keyblade, Tai now had the added stressful situation of his ex-wife coming back after 7 years for the sole purpose of kidnapping his daughter, which triggered a relapse. So, while Ruby and Yang might be better off with Aqua in their lives, it adds extra problems for Tai.
Again, sorry for the delay. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. I'll see you all next time.