"Aaaaaand Weiss says that she likes Jaune, even though I know that he likes me...But that's okay, because I don't like to think of Jaune as anything more than just a friend. And a very good one, at that."

Ruby sat on a thick fallen tree, dangling her feet above the clear water of the pond. Next to her sat Qrow, who was holding his flask with one hand and balancing himself on the tree with his other. He smirked at Ruby, happy to see that lively shine in her silver eyes again. So much like Summer's...

"Does he know?" Qrow asked, taking a swig from his flask. Ruby frowned and swatted at the flask. Qrow chuckled and then slid the flask away.

"Okay, okay, Kiddo," he said as he did, "But does he know? If he doesn't, it could lead to some baaaad juju if things get mixed up." Ruby raised a brow, confused.

"How would you know?" she asked. Qrow smirked, but inwardly, a tear fell.

"I've had crushes before," he said, satisfied at Ruby's reaction. She clapped her hand in front of her mouth and tried not to explode laughing. Qrow grinned and continued, "Hey, you think your Uncle Qrow doesn't know how to charm the ladies? 'Cause I've got some nifty tricks up my sleeve that are sure to lure in some hotties."

Ruby burst out laughing, almost falling off the tree as she leaned backwards.

"What?" Qrow continued, "You chicks are hard to get."

She laughed so hard she couldn't breath. Imagining Uncle Qrow with some girl was just too funny to her at the moment. And him making kissy-lips...She laughed even harder, making Qrow both smile, and raise a brow. Was it really that funny? Well, it didn't matter, because he was spending good, quality time with his niece, and that was all that mattered to him right now. He just couldn't shake off how much she looked like Summer though. Her eyes, her face, her hair color..she even had the red highlights. It was a little hard looking at Ruby sometimes, as she even had her mother's sweet tooth and some of her personality. He drove away his train of thought and went back to the present. Back to Summer Rose #2. Back to Ruby.

"But I was wondering why you always carry your flask with you," she said as Qrow began to drift his mind back to what she was saying right now.

"Huh?" Qrow asked. At Ruby's expectant silver gaze, he quickly processed her question. "Oh. Why does it matter to you? It's not like I'm carrying some illegal drug somewhere." He made a crooked grin as he pulled out his flask and shook it teasingly in her face. She giggled and pushed it away, letting him put it back.

"No, but seriously," she said, her face suddenly turning solemn, "Why do you keep that with you wherever you are?"

Qrow's smile faded and he locked eyes with Ruby; maroon with silver. He looked down, thought for a moment, and then sighed.

"You know why," he said, keeping his head down and gazing at her, "I'm not exactly a wanted person, especially to those who know me. My own sister wants me dead, and the one person who told me I was actually worth something is a cowardly liar. Me and Raven didn't have the best childhood, either." He looked down and stared at his flask, tracing the silver lining with his gaze. Ruby smirked and scooted herself closer to him, her red cape training behind her and swinging in the slight breeze.

"You're wanted by me," Ruby offered, snuggling into a small side hug with him. Qrow's eyes widened a moment as Ruby did that, and his straight mouth slanted into a smile. He put his arm around Ruby and scooted here even closer to him, holding her there with him. She was so warm, so bright. Such a wonderful little light in his dark, shadowy life. He smiled and closed his eyes, leaning his head against hers, which was already leaning against his broad shoulder.

The two sat there, a gentle, cool breeze passing by and stirring their hair and clothes and rustling the leaves of the trees all around them. The birds tweeted and sang their lovely birdsong, the stream trickled in its small current to the pond, the sunlight shed itself onto the area where they sat, and the shadows of the trees cast themselves where the sunshine wasn't. The evening couldn't be better.

For one moment, as he sat there with Ruby, he imagined he was sitting with Summer, in the same place at the same time. As if their team had never broken apart; as if she had never died; as if Beacon hadn't fell and Ozpin hadn't betrayed him at the worst possible time. He let all those horrible memories drift away in the sweet bliss of this precious moment, and he focused on only the present and on Summer. She slowly looked up at him with her gorgeous silver eyes and smiled softly, love and admiration in her eyes. It seemed as if the whole world around them was somehow hazy and almost blurred. Misty with a slight glow to everything, as if he was in a dream. And Summer looked sweeter than ever.

She slid her hand over and placed it gently on top of his. Qrow, slightly surprised, but masking that emotion, smiled and slid his hand into hers. Then the two of them sat there, hands held and head on shoulder. It was all so romantic and perfect. As if Salem and the Grimm had never existed. As if it was just him and her.

"Uncle Qrow?!" Ruby shrieked. Qrow's eyes flashed open and the whole image of Summer and their wonderful world shattered before him. And then he realized that he was falling. It was a brief, confusing moment, and then he realized that he was submersed in cold water. He opened his eyes and saw only blurry water and some bubbles that floated past his vision. Yelling what he would have before landing in the water and letting out a cloud of bubbles from his mouth, he swam up as fast as he could, surprised when his head broke through the water's surface only a moment after he boosted himself up. He looked around himself, treading water, and found that he was swimming in the pond, and Ruby's feet were dangling only a foot in front of him. She was sitting on the fallen tree above him, and he was in the pond below her.

Ruby's face was a mixture of surprised, confused, and amused. She took one look at him, held her hand in front of her mouth, and then burst out laughing.

Like you always do, Qrow inwardly mumbled as he swam forwards and hoisted himself back on the tree, soaking wet and dripping water into the pond. Ruby giggled and held her stomach as she laughed, trying to breath and trying to reduce the pain in her side from laughing. Qrow rolled his eyes and grunted, but his look softened as he saw how happy Ruby was. He smiled and shook his head.

"You have no idea how hilarious you looked!" she shouted, taking a break from laughing and pointed at him, "What happened?! We were just sitting there and then you fell off with a stupid look on your face!" She continued her laughing fit and Qrow raised a brow. What did happen? Had he fallen asleep? There was a pretty good chance he had. Sleep had been getting a little hard to catch up on, Ruby having been sick and all suspicious, and Oscar looking more and more worn everyday. And then there was his constant paranoia of Raven or Salem or something coming for him and the group all night, keeping him on alert for hours upon end. He just sighed and nodded his head.

"Yeah, I fell asleep," he said, resulting in a curious glance from Ruby, "I've been up at night standing vigil, you know."

Ruby nodded. "Uh huh."

Her small voice, despite the fact that in a few months she would be 17, was still so high and young sounding. And yet, in some way, it suited her just fine. Sure, it made her seem younger and cuter than she actually was, but it still suited her and made her...Ruby. Qrow yawned and took out his flask, knowing that a good swig of liquor would keep him awake and alert. The burning liquid was so casual to him, and yet, its effects were endless. Ruby just frowned and ignored it.

Even though she was nervous about being around people, fearing that somehow, even though it was impossible to tell from looking at her that she was pregnant, she knew she would have to act normal, or they would get clues. Somehow, despite the fact that Ruby most feared what Qrow would do if he found out, she also felt like he was one of the only people she could really be with right now. She loved him so much, and sometimes, he felt like a father to her when she was away from Tai. Speaking of which, she missed Tai right now. The last time she had seen him, she had left several months ago to get to Haven Academy. That had resulted in a bad belly flop.

"Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked slowly. Qrow turned his head and looked at her with that soft, almost fatherly look. Ruby hesitated a moment, wondering if she should carry through with her planned sentence or simply say something else.

It could make him think I'm hiding something. He'll think that I'm just cushioning my punishment when the time comes. He'll start watching me more closely and then he'll find out and kill Oscar. Then he'll tell Dad and I'm gonna be rejected and condemned forever.

"What is it, Kiddo?" he asked. Ruby looked down for a moment and then back up, wishing she wouldn't hesitate so much. Of course, that meant she would hesitate more, and then she would only be hesitating.

Back to the point!

"Uncle Qrow," she began, "If I did...say, anything, would you not get mad at me, whatever it is?" She looked hopefully at him. He raised a brow.

"You need to be more specific, or I can't really say," he said, resting his hand on his knee. Ruby rolled her eyes.

Of course. Hey Uncle Qrow?! I'm pregnant with Oscar's baby!

"I'll just say...something that most people wouldn't be very proud of me for."

"Like?"

"Uh...something that literally almost everyone in Remnant would be unhappy about. Not me in particular, but like, anyone...who did what I did."

"What did you do, Ruby?" There was an exasperation in his voice, and at the same time, almost a little fear. But not exactly fear, but more like some sort of eagerness to learn what awaited him. He closed his eyes and leaned back some, careful not to fall off again. Ruby looked down, slightly panicked, then back up at Qrow, scanning his face. She was always afraid of how he might react if she gave away even the slightest clues of the truth. But she was only 16, and Uncle Qrow knew that his little Short Stack was just an innocent little girl. Not some horrible, naughty teenager who snacked on men.

"Well, I-" she stopped and racked her mind for something else to say. That, or a better way to ensure her safety once the truth was revealed. "I-I uh...Let's just say...I stole something important. But it's okay now!"

She winced at her own feeble lie. It wasn't that bad, exactly. But it wasn't very good. She inwardly facepalmed, but outwardly looked ashamed, which didn't use too much masking. She was ashamed. Ashamed of lying to her uncle and ashamed of what she and Oscar had done.

Meanwhile, in Qrow's perspective, he was confused, worried, and a little upset. Ruby was withholding something from him that didn't look like it would or had turned out pretty. Not just that, but it made him feel like she was betraying his trust and that she didn't trust him.

Didn't exactly work for me when I did that. And I'm starting to think that I should tell you something that's probably a good lot worse than what you've got to pour out to me.

"Ruby," he said quietly, lifting a hand gently to her face. She was looking down, partially turned away. He carefully lifted her face and turned it towards his, a little surprised when it came back with tears streaming down her cheeks. Her silver eyes glistened with tears and her heart wrenching face expression broke his heart. His eyes widened a bit, surprised and filled with immediate concern. Was she okay? Was she secretly injured or something? Had someone hurt her emotionally or did something life scarring?

"Ruby?" He was a little afraid of what she might say and he hoped he wasn't making things worse by asking or prompting her to answer the question that itched for an answer. And by far, he hoped that she wouldn't be afraid of telling him the truth. That would be terrible! He loved her dearly, and hoped in his heart that she felt the same.

"Ruby, if there's something you're afraid to tell me, you don't have to hesitate to-"

His words had a foreign tone to them that almost nobody who had veer heard him speak before had, and he was cut off from his words as Ruby suddenly leaped into his arms into a tight hug. She suddenly began to weep into his shoulder, wetting it immediately. Qrow embraced her the moment she did him, and he quickly balanced the two of them on the branch as she clung to him, sobbing. Sobbing into peoples' shoulders was no longer a new thing for Ruby. She had begun to do it more after the Fall of Beacon, and now she was doing it a whole lot more. With help from her mood swings, all of the concern that her friends and family had for her was making her emotional train go at high speed, and suddenly bursting into tears and crying into their shoulders wasn't very new anymore. At least for doing that, anyway.

Qrow gently pet her hair and held her tight, hoping she would settle down and confess whatever it was she was going to confess. It hurt him when people didn't tell him the truth when he should know it; whether it was important to the safety of Remnant or if it was with family. And Ruby was one of the only actual family he had left. Raven meant nearly nothing to him now, at least with how she treated him and her wish for him to be dead. His parents were gone. Summer was gone. Yang was there, too, but Ruby was something else. His own flesh and blood. More than Yang. But nobody else but him and maybe Raven knew that. He wasn't even entirely sure if Raven knew. But she probably did. She knew everything.

"Ruby," he said slowly pulling her from their hug and brushing the tears from her teary eyes, "If you really don't want me to know, then don't tell me. But as a man who has faced reject and loss time and time again, I'll let you know: Trust from the people dearest to me is more valuable than gold to me."

He saw more tears run down her face, and a pained look when across her face.

Oh, c'mon. Don't take that as some sort of insult. I know you trust me.

"I-I-I'm sorry, Uncle Qrow," she choked, taking deep breaths and sniffing as she calmed herself, "I-I'm so sorry. I just-just...don't know if anyone could forgive me for this." She shed more tears and looked down. She was partially limp, Qrow holding her up some as they remained in a half-hug on the fallen tree's trunk. Qrow's look softened even more and he smiled a little.

"I'll forgive you this time, Kiddo," he said with a gentle smirk, "It can't be worse than stealing the whole cookie jar and blaming it on your mom." Ruby returned it with a weak smile, which faded shortly after. Boy, was she in the dumps! It must be really bad, then, if she couldn't give into a little Bad Times Humor from Uncle Qrow.

"I-I don't think I can tell you," she sniffed, wiping her face with her sleeve, "But I know you'll know someday. And when you do, just know that we-I have everything under control and that it's all okay. I'm gonna-I will make it all better. It'll be fine. I'm just not ready to tell you yet."

Why not tell him? You already blew it with Yang in her softest, most love-filled moment. You can't mess things up with Uncle Qrow, especially not now. This is the perfect time, Ruby! Don't be such a scaredy-cat! Just tell Uncle Qrow already! He loves you and you love him and it'll be better if you tell him!

But she ignored every voice that screamed for her to confess the truth. This was different from stealing something or messing something up, like a setup or something. This was permanent, something she couldn't just swipe away. Of course, she technically could, but that option had been closed off from her brain almost the day she found out that she was going to have Oscar's baby. They would raise this little life together, no matter how hard. It was her fault, and she would pay the price. Babies were cute, though, and so cuddly! So, that wasn't so bad...maybe.

Qrow inwardly groaned. Loudly, too. But he simply nodded his head and sighed. He understood. Many a time he had almost told Tai about Ruby. That she wasn't Tai's child, but his, and failed every time. He felt like a coward for that, but he always condemned himself for every possible thing that someone could be condemned for, so that was just one in a million things he felt that way for. This was just on the top of that cursed pile.

"Alright, then," he said, scooting back into his original sitting position with his leg bended so that his knee was up and his hand was resting on it. Ruby also resorted to her original sitting pose, with her legs dangling off the trunk and her bright red cape trailing behind her. He stared up at the sky, the tops of the trees silhouetted against the orange and red sky, colored by the newly setting sun. A few small bird flew quickly from one tree to another until they were out of sight. A small wondering thought about how he had done that himself as a crow before drifted through his head and slowly left, almost as quickly as it had come.

Ruby also gazed at the sky, only, she had mostly sad and panicked thoughts racing through her head. She stole a few glances at Qrow, wondering what he was thinking. Was he worried? Angry? Curious? Sad? Betrayed? She always felt like she would never truly know his thoughts, but she was sure he was thinking about what she may have possibly done. If almost anybody in Remnant would condemn her for something, what she had done was right in that list. But perhaps her face didn't match that option. At least she hoped so.

The two of them sat there, watching the sun slowly set until the sky was nearly dark, the stars were beginning to show, and the crickets were starting to chirp. The moon was also present, glowing and shattered. Ruby almost felt smug that she now knew why it looked that way. The god of darkness had shot a beam that had shattered the moon and sent parts of it back down as flaming rocks, destroying and killing humanity. Except for a few people, of course, one of which was Salem. What an interesting story that had been. Pretty neat to experience it in person, too.

When the sky was filled with glittering starts and the day had completely faded, Qrow finally spoke.

"It's late," he said, "We should get back to the others."

Unfortunately, his raspy, sudden voice had startled her, causing her to jump and give a little "Eep!". She nearly fell backwards, and lost her balance, just about to fall forwards into the cold water of the pond below her. But Qrow had quick huntsmen reflexes, and he shot out his hand and grabbed her arm in time, leaving her dangling just above the water. It was too dark to see either of them clearly, but she could just see a look of relief in Qrow's eyes. Just barely. He hoisted her back up onto the branch, letting her take it from there once she was laying on her belly. But Ruby stayed on her belly a little longer.

Maybe she's just catching her breath.

But she wasn't catching her breath. As soon as she had been laid there on her belly, she noticed something. The trunk didn't just squish into her belly like it normally would if she wasn't tensed. It hardly squished at all, but stopped as if she was tensed. But she wasn't. And Ruby could tell that it was her baby. Her baby was growing. She was starting to show, and she was only a little past 3 months! Panic began to run through her, making her actually tense. Why was she showing already?! Was she okay? Was the baby okay? Was her baby going to be huge, or was there something weird with it?

"You okay, Short Stack?" Qrow asked, a little concerned. Ruby snapped out of her partial trance and quickly swung back into a sitting position. She panted a bit and nodded her head vigorously.

"Yeah! Just a little winded and surprised!" she answered briefly, "It is late...so we should probably get back to the group. Goodnight!"

And she quickly stood up and carefully crossed to the other side of the trunk and onto the bank of the pond. Qrow looked exasperatedly at her and sighed with a nod.

"Goodnight, Kiddo," he said quietly. And with that, Ruby disappeared into the trees, leaving Qrow sitting on the tree trunk alone. It was dark, chilly, and very quiet. He wondered briefly to himself if Ruby's hesitance was caused by his Semblance, but quickly threw it off. His kind of misfortune didn't mess with the way people thought or felt. It just sometimes crossed those things with the wrong times and places.

Lovely.

He felt lonely and a little betrayed. He missed Summer and he wished Ruby would hesitate so much with whatever the issue was. But whatever that issue was, Ruby had, in a way, promised him that he'd know sometime, and that it would be alright.

"And if it isn't," Qrow mumbled to himself as he started down at the moon's shimmering reflection on the water, "Then I'm gonna be upset."

Yeah, this chapter is pretty much something I really wanna see something like in Volume 7 or 8 or something. I dunno...but I really like the theory that Qrow is Ruby's real father, so I'm applying it in this story. Thanks for reading!

Poor Qrow and Yang. Ruby's been withholding the truth from them when the moments seems best to confess. Who knows when she will tell them? Or will she ever before they find out themselves?