Ruby was right about one thing, he couldn't just sit around idly his whole life. It was no way to live, and he knew it.
Finding that first step though, that was a harder thing to think about. He didn't know how to do it.
He could close his eyes and think back to happier times, but it just put him in a bad mood. A lonesome desire to go back to those brighter days clawing at his gut. Like it or not, Ruby kept pushing with gentle, annoying, mindboggling persistence. It was infuriating just how hard she could hit the nail on the head, and how sharp her words could cut. He wondered if she realized what power her words held. How relentlessly they struck him.
The long held stress in her voice, repressed from years gone by, they meant something profound. Still, they tied together the worst insults without even trying. It was nothing meant to be that way, but the truths she spoke of, they were hardly easy to swallow.
She was right about Zhu, too.
He thought about his son, about what the boy was likely doing in the safety of the Schnee manor. Zhu was probably under Blake's watchful eye, or terrorizing the household with Yang's help. Either possibility made sense. Either way, the little boy was probably happy, laughing, and completely unaware of the difficulties his father struggled through.
It was an unrelenting guilt that made Sun's thoughts harder to process. He had always wanted to be a father. That wasn't a choice he made idly when he took Octavia as a mate. He had expected a life with her, had planned ahead so perfectly, he could see his future in front of him every time he closed his eyes to sleep. In his old visions, there wasn't going to be any deviations in those plans.
A few children, a small home, plenty of good times. However, he had never planned for the dark cloud in front of him, or what that might mean for his future going forward. He never planned for a future without a mate. He never gave thought to the idea that his perfect little idea of home could be so thoroughly ruined, and he had never given any thought to what that might mean for his son in the aftermath.
There had never been any room for such depressing thoughts before, but now, there was no room for anything else.
There was one thing he couldn't deny, he wanted to see his child.
Ruby was shocked when he had made the demand on that all too cold morning. Bitter wind nipping at the noses of any who stepped outside. Sun also wasn't willing to leave the house, insisting someone bring Zhu home. Eventually, after some thought, and willingness to take a blind leap of faith, Ruby left to retrieve the child herself. She wasn't completely positive it was the best idea, but, she truly doubted it was the worst.
It was the first time he wanted something other than booze, and she was driven to encourage Sun to the best of her ability.
Convincing the others would be the thing that proved difficult. Qrow, of course didn't seem to care one way or the other. He was on his way out the door swiftly with a gleam in his eye and a dirty smirk plastered across his face. As if he was about to go in search of some entertainment sure to get him kicked out of the nearest fine establishment. She sighed at his antics, yet again swearing to herself that Sun would never, ever, emulate her uncle's bad habits. She wouldn't let it happen.
Other than her uncle's goal to become plastered at a moment's notice, it was a typical day in the Schnee household. Blake was curled up near the fireplace with a good book, Zhu idly sleeping in her lap. Yang and Weiss hovered over a game of checkers. The maids brought in tea, and the household staff kept clear of the living area that the group currently occupied.
"I don't know about this, Ruby." Weiss said as she bent over the checker board, deeply invested in her game with Yang. She preferred chess, but the blonde didn't have a knack for it. So few of her friends actually played chess on a competitive level, and even Blake struggled to offer any sort of meaningful challenge. Checkers, however, provided at least some difficulty. "I don't think he's ready."
"To be fair, you haven't even seen Sun, Ruby has." Yang pointed out, priding herself on getting to the other end of the board with her red plastic piece. "King me."
"Blasted game..." Weiss murmured under her breath, doing exactly that before turning back to Ruby. "Honestly, I can't even believe you left Sun in that house alone. What if he get hold of something he shouldn't have?"
"He won't." Ruby insisted. "I'd be lying though, if I didn't say I consider this a test of sorts. If I go back, and he's completely trashed again, then I'll know there's nothing I could have really done from the start…but if he didn't go get something from the corner store, then I'll feel like we're going in the right general direction." Ruby trailed off. "I've got to be able to trust him at some point, we all do."
"According to you, he's still depressed." The white haired woman retorted turning her attentions back to the game for a brief moment. "Blake, thoughts?"
"Sun is Zhu's sire first and foremost." Blake said distractedly. "If he wants his child back, we have to abide by that. What we think doesn't matter."
"Well, I still don't like it." Weiss sighed. "At the very least, he's still moping around."
"He has no reason not to, Weiss." Ruby told her darkly. "He just sits there, and every damn little thing in that house reminds him of the life he used to have. Everything's still so raw for him. He just doesn't see what he has waiting in front of him. If we don't show him those things, no one will."
"And you think subjecting Zhu to Sun's sour mood will somehow fix all of that?"
"I'm saying that if Sun's anything like a father should be, it'll give him a reason to get off his butt." Ruby rubbed her eyes, feeling the headache there. "I'm expecting Sun to relapse eventually, that's kind of how the pattern works and all. I can't tell you how many times we found dad bent over the toilet bowl…even last year he…" Ruby squashed down that thought. "Never mind, that's not the point. What is the point, is that Sun needs a distraction that actually matters."
"I can't believe you would think it wise to take Zhu back there, Yang, talk some sense into your sister."
"Nah, actually, I think she kind of might be right." Yang sighed, hating herself for even thinking that way. "A dad can only really learn to be a dad if the kid is there. Sun's got to figure some of this stuff out on his own. Besides, Ruby will be there, and we're still here. We can always go get him if Sun decides he's not put together enough to figure things out."
Weiss could only bite back an annoyed curse. "I'm surrounded by idiots…"