CW: Alluded-to childhood trauma, murder, and indoctrination from the Branwen Tribe.

Like most things in Qrow's life, tonight was a stupid waste of time. But unlike writing essays or telling Tai that, no, he wouldn't bet any amount of lien on how many dragon peppers he could eat, and the subsequent several days of helping a moron deal with the consequences of scarfing 30 such peppers, tonight's stupid waste of time came from a much closer kind of annoyance.

His sister.

They were standing on a rooftop in the city. It had gargoyles, which Qrow appreciated, but any attempt to pose among them while peering over the city streets wasn't possible while his sister was there. She'd already made one crack about him "brooding" on the rooftops, which, first of all, he didn't brood. Brooding was a different thing entirely. But also, he was doing this as a favor to her, so she could show a little restraint. And as a third thing…

"I don't get why we're here at all," he said, "The White Fang are a peaceful activist-"

"HA!" Raven barked, blatantly brooding on a gargoyle, "Peaceful? How stupid…"

She suddenly whirled around, giving Qrow a fully contemptuous look as she continued, "That's what's so absurd about the cities. Oh, so civilized, so enlightened that they believe the stupidest shit. Peaceful?" She scoffed. "Of course the dipshits who grew up all coddled and easy think that's possible…"

With that, she began to pace and Qrow settled in from yet another lecture from his sister on how the world really worked. A habit that he tolerated their first year, when she was his only link to family and familiarity in a foreign land, but had grown increasingly tiresome, particularly as they both encountered the limits of the Tribe's worldview. Limitations Qrow had a much easier time acknowledging than Raven did.

"Imagine if you'd been stabbed in the back," she lectured disdainfully, "would you consider the matter settled if your attacker simply removed the blade? That you could pretend you'd never been stabbed, that you'd consider the matter resolved and you could live together in harmony and sing songs together? Pfft," she spat, "That's what city living does to people. They think, with their courts and their law books and their 'civilization' that they can simply paper over any problems. But you and I, we're not soft like them, we don't suffer from their illusions. The Faunus have been wounded by humanity; a peaceful resolution is merely a fantasy from those too weak to face up to their own cruelty. Blood can only be paid in blood, and we'll be here, ready to cut them off before they can make their strike."

Qrow sighed. No sense in talking to Raven when she was like this, clinging to old certainties of power and dominance that made sense when they were younger, hearing from their father the way the world worked—usually after Raven had handed Qrow his ass in a fight—before they came to a place where things… didn't have to be that way. But even if Qrow knew better, he still couldn't help himself.

"And that's why we're here the night before a rally, because-"

As expected, Raven was more than happy to take an opportunity to keep rolling as she shot back, "They could be planting bombs, scouting the area for escape routes or sniper nests, any number of things!"

"Because it's what you would do," Qrow groaned, "And so we're looking for… what, a bunch of masked figures just… looking around, doing stuff?"

"Idiot," she snapped, "Just keep an eye open, they will be here, you'll see. You just have to be ready once I spot them."

"And this is why you dragged me into this," he muttered, shaking his head, "because Tai and Summer 'wouldn't understand' your deep insights into human-Faunus relations…"

Raven gave him a glare, and even as Qrow was in the midst of disrespecting her… he was suddenly given a reminder why his sister was able to drag him out to a late night stakeout on the mere possibility that it might be part of a political organization's sinister schemes for violence. Raven was terrifying, even if she no longer had any formal authority over him. But then… the tension broke as she looked away.

"It's better that they're not here," she said at last, staring down from the rooftop as though she could will some would-be Faunus terrorists or saboteurs into existence just by being certain enough. "Better that it's just you and me. We can speak more freely than when they're here."

Qrow stiffened. He knew what Raven meant and he didn't like it. They'd been away from home long enough to start finding themselves outside of the Tribe. But even after they'd spent part of a summer with Tai's folks on Patch, even as Summer was ever telling them they could all become heroes… they weren't at Beacon to become Huntsmen. They were here as spies.

"What's to say," Qrow sardonically answered, "That all dad's talk about 'the strongest' doesn't measure up against-"

"You're getting too close to your partner."

She'd said it like it was nothing while Qrow choked on his indignation. "You-" he sputtered, "You, of all people, are telling me-"

"I made a mistake!" Raven growled, "I made one, single, one-time mistake, and I am not letting it color my judgment any more. But you are acting like-"

"I don't know how I can get closer to my partner when you let yours stick his-"

"Do you remember why we're here?" she roared, eyes flashing in rage, "Do you remember what we are? We aren't students, Qrow. And no matter how much you might want to pretend that everything can just magically work out if you try hard enough, it doesn't change things. We're here for the Tribe. We're here to learn from our people's enemies, from our enemies, and to bring that knowledge back. We're not here to become Huntsmen and pretend we can just… run away from home and live a pretty little life like all the rest of the naive children here. That's a fantasy, a delusion, and we know how the world really works."

Qrow answered her with a glare. "Easy for you to say," he grumbled, "You're the one who gets to go back to the Tribe a hero, take dad's position, become the Chief and fulfill your fancy destiny."

"Oh?" Raven asked, folding her arms in front of her chest, "And what were you thinking? Make a new life here in Vale, leave everything behind so you can scrape and beg for-"

"Everything?" Qrow scoffed, "Oh, yeah, family's just great Rae, I can't wait to get back to living in the woods and pretending we're there because we want to be!"

He saw the outrage blaze in his sister's eyes. "How… how dare you turn your back on-"

But Qrow wasn't going to give her a chance.

"And yeah, I… I like Summer," he barked, "I like her. As a person, as a leader… and I like her smile, I like her laugh, I like- I like her butt!"

The last one was… admittedly not where Qrow thought that sentence had been going, but the look of scandal on Raven's face only energized him as he laughed and added, "Yeah! I like her butt! I like everything about Summer, and if we weren't 'spies' I'd be able to-"

"And does she like you?"

Overbalanced in his own arrogance, Qrow hadn't expected to hear his sister make a penetrating question like that. It cut deep, and caught mid-sentence, he wasn't in a place to shift gears as a sudden stab of his foundational anxieties rose up in his gut.

Raven, ever their father's daughter, pushed her advantage, "And if she knew what you really are—which, if you keep spending time with her, she will find out—what would Summertime Gumdrops think about her partner?"

"Shut up," Qrow growled, ineffectually, "You don't- you don't know what you're-"

"If she knew about your Initiation into the tribe…"

An icicle of guilt and pain struck Qrow in the heart. His breath hitched in his throat as panic rose up all around him, sharp-clawed and scrabbling. Raven- Raven couldn't tell. It'd expose her, it'd give up- she was bluffing.

But even if he was… Qrow couldn't stop from knowing what she meant. From remembering the weight of the knife in his hand, the copper smell, the way a man could so quickly go from having all the traits of life to being no more than a lump of matter. And… the pride in his heart as he turned to his father and saw a smile on his face. Saw in his eyes that he saw a Branwen before him. That feeling- that feeling that still lingered, his father, proud of him…

"Do you think," Raven asked, her lips curling into a wicked, predatory smirk as she closed in for the kill, "she has a savior complex? Is that what you're hoping for? She'll nurse a poor, wounded bird back to-"

"SHUT UP!" Qrow snapped, turning his back to her and storming off.

Not that Raven could be stopped. "Is that what you're hoping for?" she asked, a sickly sweetness coming to her words, "Because you know that if she saw the real you, knew what you've done you-"

Qrow whirled at her, a gesture he knew wouldn't intimidate her into silence—he had an entire childhood that taught him that—but he wasn't going to take any more of this lying down. But rather than resorting to a doomed act of physical violence that would no doubt play right into his sister's hands, Qrow's instincts were instead sharpened by his anger and told him exactly what to say.

With a cold nonchalance, he looked Raven in the eyes, narrowed his gaze, and said:

"You're still the one who slept with her partner."

But unlike the rush of anger he'd expected, Qrow felt… all the tension dissipate as Raven's shoulders slumped. For all her bravado, for all her toughness, Qrow knew his sister had her limits. He was the only one alive besides Raven herself who knew this, who ever got to see her more vulnerable side. Growing up in the Tribe, they knew, as surely as they knew the rising of the sun, that weakness and vulnerability were just the masks that death wore to creep into your life.

"I made a mistake," she said at last, her gaze drifting away from him to look over the skyline of Vale, the strange city they found themselves in, the world so different from everything they'd ever known. "I let my weakness get to me, and I… succumbed to temptation. But it only made things clearer to me that it was a mistake. And you… you can't make the same mistake. There's no future for us in Vale. Either of us."

Qrow could have handled rage. Insults. Hus sister's worst and cruelest parts coming out to antagonize him. But this… he heard the sorrow in her voice. The pain. The regret. And he couldn't face that.

"They're better off without us," Raven said bitterly, "Take even one look at them. Summer and Tai? Imagine them together, without us. It just… it just makes more sense."

Qrow bowed his head in silent recognition. She… had a point. He'd never met a man like Tai before, a man so… fearless. He risked humiliation and mockery for failure and just… laughed along. He'd looked Qrow in the eye and told him he'd have his back, no matter what. Unthinkable in the Tribe, but Tai saw all the things in the world that could tear a man apart and faced them with a smile. Bravery Qrow couldn't understand when he first met him. He… he could be more for Summer than Qrow ever could. He didn't struggle to speak his feelings, he didn't push her away, he didn't…

"I like him," Raven murmured, a note of amazement in her voice, "I really… genuinely like him. I like his smile and his confidence and how he just… always sees how things can be good. How nothing gets him down. How he faces the world every morning… and…" she cracked a rare smile, "I like his butt."

Qrow blinked a tear from his eyes. They… they really were-

"Wow," a voice came up from behind them, "Have you ever told Tai that?"

Both twins whirled around to see the exact thing Qrow so very much hoped he wouldn't see.

She was a young woman, not much older than them, if at all, with a pair of cat ears poking up from her dark hair… and a mask on her face that identified her as White Fang.

Qrow couldn't possibly move fast enough to stop what he knew was happening. Raven, mortified and embarrassed, handled it the way she handled every humiliation: with sudden, absolute force. Omen was out faster than lighting, the blade streaking forward, hungry for blood and with a technique that would please their father as much as it horrified Professor Ozpin, his sister went for the kill…

To no effect.

Their surprise guest seemed to be a lot lighter on her feet than anyone Qrow had had dealings with before. She effortlessly sidestepped the strike, then the followup, then bent back to let the third swing sail right over her. She didn't deploy a weapon—Qrow wasn't even sure she was armed—as she merely smirked at the sudden explosion of homicidal rage that was now unleashed upon her.

Her utter disregard for the most terrifying woman in Qrow's life left him stunned. He realized he had Harbinger in his hands, already deployed, but Qrow wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do with it. Their mystery woman hadn't actually done anything yet but prick Raven's swollen ego and hair-trigger temper, and if Raven actually did beat her to a pulp… that would definitely have consequences. With the White Fang, with Beacon… he could already picture being dragged to the Deputy Headmaster's office, facing expulsion for-

But that thought would have to wait. Raven's slashes were still completely ineffectual against such a nimble foe, but then she hit back in a way that massively escalated the whole situation.

She laughed.

The worst- stupidest thing anyone could ever do to Raven, especially after she had been caught exposing an open and vulnerable wound, was laugh at her. If his sister was mad before, Qrow wasn't sure he'd ever seen her angrier as her rage boiled over. She screamed, no Branwen battle cry, but more the articulation of pure fury itself as she swung her blade with lethal intent.

Qrow jerked backwards, Omen coming within a hair's breadth of tearing through him as the laughing Faunus woman dipped out of its way. What is WRONG with you? Qrow thought, uncertain which lunatic his thought was directed at as his sister vented her fury on a target who only egged it on. It wasn't clear what her goal was: she'd blinded Raven with anger enough to make her swings artless, but Raven only needed to get one hit in to hack this poor woman to death. And while she was agile enough to dodge Raven's swings, his sister was only moving faster and faster as fury built with every missed swing. And Qrow knew what this woman didn't: Raven wouldn't tire. She would swing and scream and stab for days if that was what it took to settle this matter. No one in the world could possibly out-crazy Raven Branwen.

And he also knew if he didn't try to help, Raven would turn that fury on him.

"Raven!" he cried out in vain, "This isn't-"

"I'LL TEAR HER FUCKING TITS OFF!" Raven screamed, answering any question Qrow might have on whether he could stop this.

"Aww, you like them?" the White Fang agent giggled, "That's so sweet of you! You have such lovely-"

She was cut off as Raven nearly caught her across the neck. A hit like that didn't care about aura, if it connected, there would be blood. Probably also a head flying through the night air. But- but this nutcase just tittered and giggled like it was just a game as she sidestepped a slash that nearly took Qrow's arm off.

"FUCKING HELP!" Raven snarled, a sign of her desperation that she was actually asking for help, even if it was mostly building the case for why she should string him up with his entrails later.

"I'm trying!" he spat back, "I can't get in close enough when you're swinging like a lunatic!"

"I'll kill her!" Raven screeched, clearly not listening to anything Qrow said, "I'll kill her I'll kill you I'll kill I'll kill I'LL FUCKING KILL!"

"Is this really about me?" the idiot asked as Qrow tried to close in and… do something that wouldn't end with a civilian dead or himself dead, "Or is this really about the fact you want to be with Tai right now and can't-"

Raven's scream of inarticulate rage legitimately forced Qrow back, wincing from the sudden, stabbing pain in his eardrums. What the fuck was wrong with this woman, couldn't she get her thrills jumping out of airplanes or hugging a Beowolf? There were much simpler ways to commit suicide!

But now this woman hooked backwards, putting space between herself and Raven… right into the ideal range for Omen's reach. But Qrow immediately realized he was looking at a tricky fighter, one who played for for maximum flexibility and taking advantage of the kind of charging bull strategy his sister was already doing before Qrow could even think to scream "No. Stop. She's prepared for you."

So instead, Raven shot forward… and did something that surprised Qrow. Rather than blunder into a trap, she instead feinted forward as she opened a portal in front of her… with Qrow catching on that her Semblance meant that her portal would either be going to Beacon, back to the Tribe… or behind him. Feeling Raven's boot on his back answered that question as she used him as a springboard to launch an airborne attack on the White Fang agent and introduce Qrow's chin to the ground.

As he—painfully—got up, he saw that Raven hadn't managed to decapitate her foe like he expected, but she'd certainly put her on the back foot. Which brought up a new problem for Qrow: White Fang or not, actually, especially if she was a White Fang member, Raven couldn't kill random people just for eavesdropping on her and then laughing at her. What was a sure death sentence in the Tribe—Qrow had seen their father take a man's head for as much—was entirely legal here in Vale. And if they didn't want to come off as lunatics…

But that thought… even as Qrow was leaping back on his feet, moving to try and gain some level of control of things, he was suddenly hit with a wave of pure… what did it matter? Maybe… maybe this just was who they were. Maybe they were just a pair of bandits in a city that didn't want them. They were just… in the way of the people who really belonged here, people who'd never-

Qrow jerked back as a blade suddenly came within an inch of striking him.

She- she was armed? Oh what the fuck, that was- that was just- this woman was ridiculous!

Ripped right out of his funk and back into action, Qrow launched himself forward, Harbinger coming alive in his hands as it met his opponent's blade with a terrible clash. She had an odd weapon, something like two sickles connected with a ribbon. Qrow respected sickles as a cousin to scythes, but having them both linked together like that made him think she probably incorporated it into her fighting style in some fashion.

A deduction that he'd have to see tested later as Qrow backed up to let Raven swoop in. Professor Ozpin always praised them for their coordination, how the twins could move so perfectly in sync no matter what spat or disagreement was consuming them that day. Blood was thicker, and that bond transcended all differences. But this woman… she seemed to move like she was as much their partner, lithely moving just in time to dodge Raven's swing and then duck low as she-

The ribbon caught Raven across the leg, taking her off balance as the White Fang agent swept it up in a smooth, graceful motion… unlike Raven's. She tripped, falling hard as her opponent pulled her weapon back into her hands and shot towards Qrow.

Maybe it was the unshakeable bit of him that would always be a Branwen, maybe it was Qrow's sense of self-preservation to not give his sister another reason to tear into him later, and maybe it was the profound irritation Qrow felt towards a woman who had the abject temerity to out-crazy Raven, but whatever the reason, as the mystery woman shot forward, sickles in hand, Qrow had shed any last trace that might make him want to take things easy on her. He was a Branwen, he was the son of the chief, and he would make the White Fang learn what that meant!

Unlike Raven, Qrow was merely aggravated, not blind with rage, and that meant that he could take this fight like a Huntsman. He could tell that the thrillseeker he was fighting, while bold and damn good at dodging, wasn't someone who had the experience that Qrow and Raven did. Not many did, even at Beacon, students with four years of fancy aura training found that they weren't really prepared for someone who'd been in a fight for their life before. This woman probably wouldn't have been able to get a lucky hit on Raven if she hadn't pissed her off so badly, and that meant that Qrow had the advantage here. And now that she had a weapon out, he didn't have to feel guilty about taking a swing at an unarmed civilian…

At the same time, she was no slouch with her weapon as Qrow pressed her attack. There was probably some truth to the rumors that not all of the White Fang was equally committed to nonviolent protest and passive resistance. As Harbinger clashed and Qrow brought his superior strength and reach into play, forcing her to dance to his tune, he could tell she'd met blade with blade before, and he could see that he'd already wiped the smile from her face. He just needed to get a good hit in, take her down, tell Raven to chill the fuck out, and then-

But of course, just as Qrow was winding back for his swing, his Semblance had to remind him it was still there as a pigeon of all things suddenly erupted from behind him with a tremendous flurry of wings. It threw off Qrow's strike, forced him to react to a threat that wasn't any more than just flapping, and let his opponent suddenly close the distance, leaving him not only face to face, but face to face with a trained combatant who was lunging in close. And then…

Her lips met his.

Soft. It was the only thought Qrow had in the moment, surprise catching him utterly off guard as his assailant smooched him. Had he even an ounce of preparation or expectation of this happening, Qrow might have been able to marshal a defense against this, but caught mentally flat-footed and raised in an environment where any kind of softness was denied him, from childhood onwards, Qrow almost went slack from the kiss, the whisper of possibility that went straight to his soul… and then he remembered that he was in a fight.

But it had given the White Fang agent time. Not to get in a proper strike, but to shove Qrow backwards slightly and then, spring away, laughing all the while as Raven got back on her feet, sputtering and cursing as she tried to chase down their opponent before she could spring off the rooftop, using her weapon's ribbon to catch on a pole and gently bring herself down to ground.

Qrow managed to stop Raven from just leaping off the building to catch her. She'd probably survive a four-story drop, but Qrow didn't want to explain to the infirmary why his sister tried to chase down a target on a broken leg. Not that Raven was making it easy, struggling against his grip, but Qrow held her tight, his feet planted solidly as he held her back from getting too stupid.

"She ain't worth it!" he barked at her, "You break your leg chasing her and you'll be in the infirmary for a-"

"I DON'T FUCKING CARE!"

"And Summer'll dote on you every day and night until you're better!"

Raven stopped fighting. The prospect of being wounded and recovering—the most dangerous position one could ever be in in the Tribe—while her rival put aside everything to help her… it was a crueler fate than anyone could mete out to Raven. With the prospect of that hanging over her head, Qrow could let go as Raven begrudgingly shook her head.

"Not worth our time," Raven spat, though clearly speaking more to herself, "We're never gonna see that bitch again, anyways."

She looked radiant.

Yes, he knew it was cliche. He wasn't a word guy, he didn't know how else to say it. And besides, this was his niece! He was allowed to be cliche today!

And… she really did look radiant.

It wasn't even the day. She wasn't in her dress yet, they were just going through the rehearsal, but even… just dressed for this, the smile on her face as she joked with Ruby as she was instructed where the Maid of Honor would be standing… she was radiant. An utterly radiant bride-to-be, planning the happiest night of her life, the sunny little dragon he'd always known, now fully beaming. He glanced to the other bride, a girl he'd first met when visiting Yang and Ruby in their first year at Beacon. He hadn't thought much of her then—he had a wariness towards dark, quiet, moody types—but he'd come to see how happy she made Yang. Saw the little glances between the brides that told him that this really was the real deal.

None of her parents had had weddings like this, and those were the only weddings Qrow had ever been to. Tai and his sister's wedding had been… hasty. A quick and necessary affair, a ceremony that stood for Raven severing her old past and embracing a new future. It… hadn't stuck, but Raven had wanted a simple affair. They couldn't afford much more, anyways, two recent graduates of the Academy. Summer's wedding… how dearly he still missed her… was another simple affair. More legality than romance, a way to ensure things went smoothly with their new blended family. Things like VHA Bereavement Benefits that Qrow hadn't… hadn't thought would so soon be relevant.

He didn't want to be sad today. But he couldn't look at Yang and not see them in her. She… she was the best of the three people Qrow loved more than anyone else in the world. Her father, her mothers, she took everything that was good in them and bore it so naturally, you'd never think she was the daughter of all of STRQ's tragedy and loss. It was impossible to look at her and not see a miracle, not see the hope that drove so much of Qrow's life fulfilled.

"Okay," the event planner—another Team Leader from their year, the one Qrow never paid much notice to other than the question of how in the hell he'd ended up with his partner—said, gesturing to the back of the room, "So our brides both wanted a procession, so it's going to go Yang's side first, then Yang, escorted by her father. Tai's gonna shake the bridesmaids' hands, then be seated. Then Blake's side comes down, then Blake, escorted by her father, and…"

His explanation droned on. Qrow mostly didn't have much to do during the ceremony, just get up at the right time and read the poem Yang and Blake had picked out for him. It was a good poem, if poetry was your thing, but it didn't require that much "Go here, go there, stand there," that some of the rest of the wedding party had to pay attention to. So while the rest were getting instructions, Qrow could take a moment to look over the crowd here. Weddings weren't really Qrow's thing, but it was… affecting to get a sense of what a world Yang had built around her.

The kids were the obvious thing, all the friends she made through Beacon and the Vytal, her teammates and the cluster of young Huntsmen that Qrow couldn't look at without his critical eye finding something to critique them for. Something he shouldn't be doing, but… if the blond Faunus, what's his name, who was serving as an usher wanted to call himself a Huntsman, he'd better carry himself like one. None of that slouching.

Though he really shouldn't be thinking like that. Especially if Glynda could control herself. She was officiating, something he knew she was happy to do for former students she held in such esteem, though… Qrow could definitely tell that she wasn't particularly enthused about the part of this where she was getting instructions from another former student. Which was actually pretty funny, by Qrow's reckoning. With Ozpin's forthcoming retirement, she was all but the Headmaster of Beacon already. As much as Qrow liked Glyn, it was always good thing to put a little reminder that a promotion didn't give absolute power.

Still thinking like a grump… he glanced over to Tai, giving Qrow a chance to wonder when he'd gotten so damn mature. He knew they were old now, Qrow both felt and looked it, but when had the knucklehead he roomed with, who had a good luck dance he always did before exams, become such a dad? And of course… Ghira and Kali Belladonna. The Chieftain of Menagerie and his wife. Qrow should have known his niece would be marrying up, but the First Daughter of Menagerie? Of course, the Chieftain looked a little less… magisterial at the moment, not as his sniffles were overcoming him while his wife did her best to support her husband. A losing battle—not that Tai was doing much better. Made Qrow wonder if it fell on him to help support the father of the bride like Ghira's wife was.

"Honey…" she said, patting the big man on the shoulder, "It's okay, you can get it out of your system now, but tomorrow, you're going to have to think about the photos."

"I can't help it," a man who'd survived four assassination attempts, one by bare-knuckle brawling his assailant, sobbed, "It's- she's just- she's so beautiful and I'm so happy and she's our little girl and when did she-"

"Shhhhhh," she shushed him, "Sh-sh-sh-shhhhh… it's okay, it's okay, here, how about I give you a task to get your mind off of things. Your wife could use some of the cucumber water back in the lobby. Go get her some, put yourself to something more productive."

With a dignified nod, the big man made his way back to where the refreshments were. The event planner was now talking to the photographer about how they'd handle the procession, so Qrow felt like it was a good time to say hi to his… he supposed she was his opposite? "Uncle of the Bride" wasn't a traditional title, but he figured nobody would really question him on it.

"If it makes you feel any better," he ventured in a low whisper, "Tai's gonna be just as bad tomorrow."

Mrs. Belladonna gave him a warm smile. "Oh, it's because he's trying to tough it out," she said with a wave of his arm, "Once he lets himself cry it out, he'll be as dignified and stoic as he is for any state event."

She gave Qrow a conspiratorial smile.

"Believe me, there's not a formal event where I don't spend an hour fussing over him to make sure he's perfect."

Qrow chuckled. "Well, formal events are a bit… new for me, so I'm just hoping I'm able to hold it together tomorrow."

She chuckled as well. "You'll be fine," she said, "I can always spot wedding criers, and I can tell you express your happiness in other ways. And… I'm so sorry, I know you're Yang's Uncle, but I don't think I caught your name."

"Qrow," he said with a nod, "And it's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Belladonna."

She gave him a playful shove. "Oh, please, call me Kali! We are about to become family, after all!"

Family…

It was weird, wasn't it? Family could be so… fluid, in ways Qrow didn't really expect or understand, but even as life took him from love and loss, he'd wound up with… with all these people in his life. They'd shown up so naturally that he never realized how odd it was that the son of the Chief could have a family at Beacon, could have a best friend with two of the most incredible girls in the world who called him Uncle, and now, the Chieftain of Menagerie and his wife considered him… some kind of in-law. There wasn't really language for it, but perhaps a proper term wouldn't make this feel any less strange and mysterious. Every time he saw Tai or Ruby with Blake, he knew they were reckoning with the same reality, that their family had a new daughter.

And Kali was reckoning the same with Yang.

"I think I owe you an apology," he whispered to a woman who'd presided over more state dinners than Qrow had even read about, "I used to be 'special operations' for Ozpin, so… sorry about not letting you know your daughter was at Beacon."

Kali glanced at him, cracking a sly smile. "Apology accepted, but don't worry… I had my people keeping me in the loop. Mr. Branwen."

Qrow chuckled. "If this is the part where we reveal we both have dossiers on each other, I should let you know, the tattoo story is greatly exaggerated and mostly slander. Also, it's not on my butt. People always think it's on my butt."

Kali almost snorted, pressing her arm over her eyes as she laughed as Qrow-

He knew those lips.

Qrow froze. A night, a night that must have been more than two decades ago suddenly sprung back into his memory. A memory of a woman, a Faunus woman, covering her eyes, but the same dark hair, same ears, same lips, just twenty years younger and… completely insane. He'd seen her provoke his sister into a complete disarray and come out on top.

The moment suddenly became vastly more awkward as Qrow realized that this was not the first time he'd met Kali Belladonna, and worse… this was not a story he could ever share. With anyone. Ever.

Kali was making a joke, but Qrow was too focused on not giving away his thoughts to properly hear it. Just laughing politely at the appropriate point and- oh, thank the Brothers, Ghira was back, cups in hand, a welcome distraction as Qrow introduced himself and tried not to think about the time he'd dueled his wife twenty years ago.

Another moment of good fortune came as the wedding planner was now gesturing to the parents of the brides, some issue that he needed their input on. Qrow didn't really care about that, he knew everything would work out for tomorrow and things would be beautiful, but right now, it was a chance to disengage from the conversation and give Qrow a chance to gather his bearings.

Wait, his niece was about to marry the daughter of a woman who out-crazied Raven? What was her- oh gods, oh gods, he knew Yang had inherited more Branwen than was safe, but-

"We'll catch up later," Kali said as she made her exit from their conversation, "and also…"

She dropped her voice low.

"Surprised to see you still single," she whispered, almost inaudibly adding, "You're a very good kisser, Qrow."

Thanks to Renarde for feedback on this work!

Sometimes, you write a piece that doesn't seem to fit in any particular genre, but you like the wonkiness of comedy and drama meeting enough that you can't bear to change it. And so you just post it anyways, in the hopes it finds an audience... and then realize you have to write a summary that captures all that wonkiness and you wonder if you have a clue of what to do about that. Well, if you made it this far, at least whatever I summarized it as didn't put you too off from reading the fic!