Coco opened the door slowly to the teacher's lounge, poking her head in to see if there was anyone present before entering the rest of the way. She was alone at this point in the small room, it had a few couches, similar to the ones that the students had in their dorm rooms, and a large round table that could seat about ten if need be. There was a counter with a sink, a couple of drawers and cabinets, and a coffee machine of course. Coco let the door shut quietly behind her and she moved to the coffee pot, pulling it off of the burner and taking a sizeable whiff. Old.
She maneuvered around the countertop, preparing a new brew in record time before taking a peek into the fridge to see if anyone had restocked the creamer. Coco took her coffee black, but she had decided to check for Velvet, more than happy to bring a mug to her wife. She dug around, pulling out a few that were caramel and searching in the back for mint or carrot cake, Velvet's preferred flavor of course. She had no luck and hit her head on the freezer door that was shut above her as she quickly stood, hearing someone pull the door open, laughing loudly.
"Then I told him, 'I'm the only one who gets to call my wife a puss-" Yang exclaimed, shutting up with a grunt as Blake elbowed her in the ribs. Coco glanced back and forth at the two of them, both of them smiling, though Yang was now blushing and rubbing her neck. "Oh, hey Coco!" Coco returned each smile and nodded, brushing the hair out of her face and turning to face the pot, determined not to make eye contact again before she left the room. Blake was bound to ask about the mission and Coco wasn't sure of the best course of action. Did she tell Blake and risk her trying to coerce Glynda into calling off any more of these recon missions that would allow the students time in the field? She could lie, but it was only a matter of time before Neela told her the outcome regardless.
This was all assuming that Blake didn't kill her… Oh, Oum. Coco wasn't about to tell her about the scar on Neela's back! That would be the icing on the cake. A strange, improbable scene of Blake running Gambol Shroud through her played repeatedly in her mind. She watched as the coffee brewed, slowly, as though it was mocking her. It knew that she couldn't leave without it, and so it was taking its sweet ass time, sentencing her to a cruel and untimely end. Dripping. Slowly… What the hell Beacon Café Dark Roast, you were never this thick before! She fidgeted with her necklaces as Yang and Blake sat behind her, she could hear them pulling out seats and adjusting. It couldn't end this way!
"How are your classes going so far today?" Blake asked. Coco swallowed hard. Maybe Blake wasn't going to ask at all. Maybe she had forgotten, at least for the moment. She felt a wave of relief crash into her, only to be replaced with an image of Blake standing behind her, her sword held high and a crazed look on her face. I saw what happened to Neela's back! Coco wiped her forehead with her sleeve and examined the moisture. She was sweating!? How hard?! This was going to ruin her makeup for sure! "Coco?"
"Great! Not too bad so far," Coco said as she made as though she was inspecting the cabinet thoroughly for a specific mug. They weren't going to buy this! She had her own mug, and Velvet wasn't this picky! What choice did she have at this point? "We have quite the group of students this year." Blake chuckled and Yang offered a muffled agreement, a piece of toast shoved into her mouth.
"Yeah, we do!" Yang managed through the toast, gasping as she swallowed. She coughed and shook her head as Blake looked her over. "I'll be fine. Just swallowed too fast." Yang coughed for another few moments, her eyes welling with tears as she finally caught her breath. "You alright Coco? You're looking at the coffee pot like an inmate looks at their last meal on death row." Coco inhaled and exhaled slowly. She was overreacting. That's all there was to it.
"I'm fine. Was just in a rush to get back to Velvet," Coco explained. Yang patted the seat next to her.
"Come join us for a moment! That machine's been running slow the past couple of days anyway," Yang told her. Coco agreed reluctantly and sat with Yang between her and Blake. Images of Blake sliding across the table and choking her with the necklaces she wore flared between synapses before fading. Coco removed her scroll and placed it on the table, something falling out of her pocket and clattering to the floor. What else was in her pocket?
"It slid over here. Don't worry, I've got it," Blake told Coco. She picked it up and glanced over at Coco's. Blake activated the scroll's screen as Coco snatched it away. "Why do you have a second scroll on you?"
"It's Velvet's!" Coco exclaimed. "She doesn't like keeping it on her at work, but she doesn't like leaving it in her desk either."
"Coco, the background was a picture of Neela and Eliana," Blake stated blankly. Yang raised her eyebrow and slowly turned to face Coco as well. Coco sighed and let her face fall to the table with an audible thud. Blake cocked her head slightly. "Coco, whose scroll is it?" Coco was at a loss for words. It's Eliana's. I confiscated it last night so that she couldn't call you and tell you that they had failed the mission and landed Neela in the infirmary. Neela's going to be fine by the way. Can I at least have one last cup of coffee before you put me out of my misery? Wait! That was it!
"I guess that I must have set Velvet's down somewhere or put it in one of my other pockets. That is Eliana's scroll! She was using it during Tactics Class today and I had to confiscate it," Coco told her. "She just kept going on about the street fair that she and Neela went to last night, or at least that's what she was texting one of her old friends from Patch." Yang nodded as she looked back at Blake.
"That's right, they went on a date last night!" Yang exclaimed. Yang made air quotes with her hands. "Date." Blake sighed.
"It never changes between the two of them, does it?" Blake asked. Coco shook her head.
"I guess not," Coco offered as she stood. The coffee was done. She could practically see her escape! She had dodged a bullet, for now, the mission hadn't even come up in conversation. She breathed more easily and poured two mugs of coffee as Blake removed her scroll.
"I have a message from Neela," Blake told Yang. Coco froze and her eye twitched for a moment. My wife is going to Blake you in two! Coco shook her head. God, even the puns she imagined were awful.
"What does it say?" Yang asked.
"It says that they had a great time last night but they want to know if we've seen Coco," Blake read. She glanced up at Coco who was still motionless. "It also says that if we see her, we should ask her if they need to meet up with her later for a debriefing." Coco's hands shook as she attempted to lift the mugs and move quickly to the door. "They had their mission last night Coco?" Coco sighed and set the mugs on the table, sitting again.
"Yes," she replied quietly.
"How'd it go?" Blake asked. Coco only looked at her for a long moment before looking away. "Coco…"
"They failed to stop Stardust and collect the item in question. They all fought well, better than expected to be honest, but Neela got a nasty scar across her back that isn't going to heal…" Blake stood up and stepped back from the table.
"I knew it!" Blake exclaimed. Yang shook her head.
"Blake, calm down." Yang implored. Blake glared at her.
"No! I will not calm down! First I have to deal with the stress of the fact that the White Fang is out there again for whatever reason! Then, on top of that, we have to be worried about Neela, who could have died last night apparently! You don't get scars when your aura is at safe levels, Yang!" Blake exclaimed. Yang stood up.
"We don't have any reason to worry about either of those things!" Yang shouted back. Blake threw her arms out, looking around the room in disbelief.
"Don't we?! What if the White Fang come for us again, or worse, Shadow or Neela?!" Yang grabbed Blake by the shoulders.
"We took them out once, we can handle them again. You can't keep playing the 'what if' game with Neela. What matters is that she is alive, and she can take care of herself. I think you forget that at our age we were doing the same thing. It's like Coco said before, we need to trust that Neela can do this," Yang told her trying to talk her down. "Just breathe babe. We can get through this just like we did last time." Blake looked her in the eyes, calming down and nodding her head.
"Neela did well?" Blake asked quietly. Coco nodded feverishly as she stood up from the table.
"She took on the two that Yang had gone against with Pyrrha at Mountain Glenn. We were able to gather quite a bit of intel on their fighting styles and other various behaviors while she fought them. She could have been hurt far worse, but her quick thinking saved herself. It's true what they always said about her in comparison to me Blake…" Blake looked at her, her eyes searching, holding back tears that came with the realization of everything that had been causing her stress. "I wouldn't have been able to think my way out of that situation. Once she has more experience, Neela will be one of the best that this kingdom has ever seen."
"Thank you," Blake replied sniffing hard and glancing over her scroll as it chirped, informing her of a message. She laughed lightly and Yang wiped her tears. "So you cut their night short huh?"
"What do you mean?" Coco asked. Blake laughed again.
"She said that they didn't have time to go pick out a dress for Neela for the dance," Blake told her. The women could see Coco's eyes light up behind her shades and she grabbed up her coffees, throwing open the door.
"Don't worry about a thing!" Coco called back. "I'll have Neela looking like an absolute princess! Eliana won't be able to resist her, I owe her that much!" She door closed and they could hear the caffeine-driven field instructor running down the hall, her boots clicking, more or less thundering off of the flooring through the staffing and administrative building. Blake took a deep breath in and looked at Yang who was simply smiling at her.
"I wonder how big the scar is." Blake pondered. Yang shrugged.
"Beats me, but shouldn't you let Neela know that Coco is heading her way?" Yang asked. Blake laughed.
"Perhaps," Blake chuckled. She sighed. "Everything is going to be okay, right?" Yang hugged her wife and pulled her in against her bosom, petting Blake's head, who almost seemed to be purring.
"It'll all turn out okay babe," Yang reassured her. "There are things that all of us are afraid of. Whether it be people, or pain, or ideas. We just have to learn to adjust, though I will admit, the world was less scary before we had kids." Blake nodded. Yang let her go and pulled away, grabbing her milk carton off of the table and chugging it. "That reminds me, I need to meet with Uncle Qrow this afternoon."
"Your mom again?" Blake asked. Yang shrugged.
"Probably, but I'm hoping this time it's just a social call."
Mud. His feet sunk in slowly and subtly as he trudged on, ignoring the fact that the earth wished for him to stay put and move no further, or at the very least, rob him of his shoes. He looked down, noting the footsteps that lay before him, not his own but undoubtedly those of one of his nieces. He let out an amused chuckle as he pressed onward. It was amazing to think that this path had been worn and trampled out by countless trips to the cliff side, it wasn't intentional. It was as though She had guided them all that way, implying that if any other route was taken, perhaps harm would come their way, or they would miss something that needed to be seen. He was seeing everything that needed to be seen.
This day She was playing with his emotions more than most. A slight breeze was mussing his hair ever so gently, enough that he could feel it but not so much that it bothered him. He glanced out into the woods and noted the colors of autumn that were reaching their peak, taking the last moments of their life in stride before the leaves would fall to the forest floor. It reminded him of Forever Fall and in turn, reminded him of Her. He finally reached the edge of the woods, standing on the cusp of the clearing and closing his eyes, letting the wind wash over him again before opening his eyes. She stood there smiling at him.
It was the first moment that they had met each other and the initial reaction he recalled having was noticing her red hair. She had run into him at a full-blown sprint as he had rounded the corner with Raven. She sprawled off of him, her papers and books scattering and exploding into a flurry and he was able to see the girl, his breath caught slightly. He had never felt that before. She looked up at him blushing and frozen for a moment, Raven glancing back and forth between the two of them.
"I'm so sorry! I can be so clumsy sometimes, it'll never happen again!" Summer exclaimed, her white cape kicking up around her as she raced around the sidewalk and picked up her materials. Qrow was still taken and Raven stared at him for a long moment, trying to pick his brain and determine what had come over him, but she had a good idea. Raven jabbed him in the gut and continued walking by Summer.
"It was nice to meet you," Raven said briefly, not conveying pleasure or displeasure towards the situation, and moving on towards the dorms. Qrow watched as Summer continued to scramble and he knelt, picking up a textbook at his feet. He looked it over as if he didn't understand the words that he was reading on the cover before glancing past the book at Summer who held her pile of reading material out towards him so that he could place it on top. There was that smile.
"What's your name?" Qrow asked as he gave her the book.
"Summer Rose," she told him. Summer Rose…
Summer Rose.
How could he have known at the time that she was going to change everything? How could he have known that there was something bigger going on and that she was the key? Sometimes he wondered if it would have been easier if he had never met her. He pushed the thought away and walked across the clearing, looking out to his left and right, noting the lack of Grimm. He smirked again. There were always Beowolves when he came out here, but today it was silent in a calm way. Normally the quiet was unnerving, but this time he welcomed it and reached her grave after a few moments, kneeling and brushing off the stone.
"Hey Summer," he spoke softly, choking the words out. "I don't come out here nearly as often as I should, do I?" He shook his head and sat cross-legged beside the grave, staring out at the forest that carried on below for what seemed like hundreds of miles, maybe even to the end of Remnant. He removed his flask and took a swig, coughing and recapping it, placing it back in his jacket. "You always warned me to stay away from this stuff. You knew somehow that if I started I wouldn't be able to stop." He chuckled and shook his head. "You were right Short Stack, but I need something to take the edge off, and this is the best I can do."
"You found me that night," he reminded her. "You were so naive and young and… and beautiful, but you really didn't understand what was going on around you, did you? You told me that morning that Tai had finally proposed to you, and you were so happy, weren't you?" Qrow sighed. "But I died inside. I just put on a smile, gave you a hug and congratulated you. And then I headed to the pub. What else could I do?"
"Sure, I could have told you then that I loved you and was just never man enough to say it, but that wouldn't have been the right thing to do. We could never have worked out." He looked at his hands as they shook and he stood, removing the flask and dropping it onto the ground, unable to grip it for the moment. He looked at it for a long couple of seconds through tear soaked eyes as he regained his composure. "Maybe I was selfish to think you'd want to be with me. You're the only person who I was never unlucky around." He looked down at the stone as tears fell from his face and splashed against the leaves on the ground. "I was drowning in your eyes Summer. I thought maybe you felt the same."
"Why did you want to meet me out here?" Yang asked as she pulled her long coat closer to her body and slowly made her way across the clearing, kneeling at the grave. "Hey, mom." Qrow sniffed and chuckled.
"Mom huh?" He pried. Yang looked up at him before looking back at the stone.
"Yeah. I've taken to calling her that since we adopted Neela. It really got me thinking about my childhood," Yang explained. "I don't remember Raven being there ever. How young must I have been that I can't remember a time that she was there for me? But Summer was always there for me. Cuts. Scrapes. Bruises. Cookies. Hell, even when I went looking for Raven, she'd always offer to pack food for Ruby and I before we set out." Yang felt her emotions catch in her chest and she clutched at her shirt. "I was so lucky to have her, and it took me years of searching for a mother that wanted nothing to do with me to realize that I had a mother all along." Qrow rubbed her shoulder.
"I think that's pretty accurate. Seems like you've got your head on straighter than I thought kiddo," Qrow told her as he helped her to her feet. "I'm sure you know what this is about then." She looked at him and then looked away, taking a few steps away from him, placing Summer's headstone between the two of them.
"Raven's still looking for us, isn't she?" Yang asked. Qrow nodded as his niece sighed and shook her head. "What can I do then? What can I possibly say or do to let her know that I really don't want anything to do with her anymore? Can't you tell her to give up?" Qrow grinned.
"Nothing's that easy with Raven," Qrow told her. "Once she sets her sights on accomplishing something, nothing stands in her way."
"Not even having a child," Yang muttered. Qrow sighed.
"You're too old for me to yell at and too wise for me to try and convince you're wrong," Qrow said. He bent down and picked up his flask, taking another sip. He offered it towards her but she declined. "She's coming, Yang, whether you want her to or not. You're going to have to face her-"
"I won't forgive her," Yang cut him off. She had almost shouted it and her chest heaved slightly. "I can't forgive her Qrow, and you can't expect me to." Qrow nodded.
"You're right. I don't expect you to. But you will have to confront her. She wants to make amends-"
"Do you believe that?" Yang asked him. She searched Qrow's eyes before rolling her own and walking back towards the path in the woods.
"I'm just telling you what she told me, Yang!" He called out.
"I'm not angry at you Qrow! I'm angry about the fact that she thinks she can just show up and act like nothing ever happened, just because her clan is dead and she has nowhere else to turn! If she shows up, she is going to hear me out, and what she hears isn't going to be pretty!" Yang stormed off back through the woods and he rubbed his forehead before glancing at Summer's memorial one last time.
"Maybe if Salem hadn't ended your life so soon you would have been able to convince Raven to come back like you told me you would," Qrow spoke. "Yang's right. You were her mother."
Yang will have to face Raven at some point it seems. Next Week: Chapter 31 - Dance NITE!
A big thank you to Sa-Dui, Diyaru4500, Demize00Zero, TheCipherNine, SketchHungry, Ookaminoki, Lightning-in-my-Hand, and Dishwasher1910. All of their artwork can be found at Deviantart, you can search Silent-Celica and under my favorites tab, I have a collection for NITE.
Until next week, stay classy!