Chapter 44 – Patch: Hearth and Home

Cover Art - Mi Chumi

Chapter Beta - ZoroEpsilon (author of Neo Penance)

[A/N] Jack Redhawke, this one's for you. Grab some tissues...

Taiyang Xiao Long sat on his couch, trying to enjoy a rare evening alone. He'd lined up what 9yo Yang and 6yo Ruby would have called 'one of those boring movies' and a six pack of beer.

There was another six-pack in the pantry, just in case.

He'd try… really try not to be drunk-crying by the end of the night, this time. It all depended on whether he could resist the temptation to go through Summer's playlist of favorite movies. That's how it usually happened. He'd start off with something mindless, like an old war documentary, and get a few beers in him. And then against his better judgment he'd click that menu and start skimming over titles.

That was usually the point of no return.

Three years, and it still tore at his insides. He could have deleted that list. Probably should have. Just like he should have cleared her items off the nightstand.

Should have. But couldn't. Not yet.

He'd just popped the top off his second beer, when a Portal began opening in his freaking living room.

"Dammit, Raven!" he cursed, setting the beer down on the low table in front of him. "Eight years and you pick the one night that-" and his throat locked up, air refusing to move in or out.

Summer Rose walked out of the night on the other side, through the Portal, and into his living room.

"Tai…" she whispered, her visible eye quickly filling with tears that began to stream down her face. She started to move toward him, then realized her legs wouldn't manage it and just stood, lifting her arms beseeching in his direction. "Tai…" she sobbed.

The Portal behind her snapped closed.

Taiyang couldn't speak. He couldn't breathe.

But he could move. He stood slowly, terrified that anything sudden would burst whatever fantastical bubble was before him. It was Summer, his Summer. It had to be. He heard his beer fall over, amber liquid beginning to spill and puddle on the floor. He moved toward her, hands flexing, begging in his mind for her not to disappear, to fade into wisps. He'd had dreams, the last three years. Nightmares.

But this had to be real. She had aged. Her face was lined and leaner than memory. And her left eye was covered with an eyepatch bearing a stylized silver rose. He couldn't have made up the image of the woman before him, right eye streaming, mouth smiling at him, arms reaching out.

Almost close enough to touch.

And then close enough. She was sliding into his arms, collapsing against him. And she was his Summer. His Summer Rose. She was real and he could feel her, and he wrapped his arms around her and sobbed her name over and over.

"Summer… Summer... Summer."

And he heard her whisper his name back thickly. "Tai. I'm here, Tai. I'm really here. Raven found me. I'm never leaving you again."

It took them over an hour before their emotions allowed them to have anything approaching a conversation. Instead they babbled, and whispered reassurances, and sought each other's kisses, and clung to each other and alternated between hysterical laughter and sobs.

Finally, they worked their way over to the couch, and curled around each other as tightly as they could while still managing to breathe.

"How… Summer how? Where?" Tai finally managed.

"It's too much to tell you all of it now, but… short version? Oz told me some things, enough for me to believe I had a chance at ending this." She shook her head. "Instead, I found out I didn't know nearly enough. And one of Salem's pawns cut me down." Summer swallowed at the memory. "She could have left me to bleed out, but instead she took me prisoner, managed to mask me from Raven's bond."

He hugged her tightly for a second. "That's how…"

"Yeah. Raven really thought I was dead."

"Not just her… the girls kept hoping, but I knew…" He choked back a sob. "But I was wrong. You're here…"

"I'm here." She swallowed again, thickly. She leaned in and gave him a scorching kiss. "We can go over all of it later. Now… do you go get the girls tonight, or do we surprise them when they get back?"

"I… gods…I want you to myself for a little bit, Summer. I know it's selfish-"

"I understand. Me too. Let's go to bed. I need you to hold me. I need to feel you."

Tai smiled softly. "Yeah. The rest can wait, can't it..."

Gently, he helped her up, as if she would break, and they walked to the bedroom. Their bedroom.

When Tai got her settled and popped off to the bathroom, Summer sent a quick secure message to Selene, Garek, and Raven. She knew Raven wouldn't be able to receive it, but if she wanted to know, she could darn well stop by herself and ask.

SR: Tai took it well. Getting reacquainted. Will see my girls on Sunday morning. Thank you all. Let Visha know.

There was no response. They were likely all still outside CCT range. That was fine. She let her eyes wander around the room. Tai hadn't changed anything. Their bed. Her nightstand. The photos, the little bowl full of her random pocket treasures on the nightstand. The curtains he'd never liked. He'd left them all.

Three years.

It must have been torture for him. She felt a well of sadness and anger. Salem would pay for this. For what she had done to her family.

And Ozpin too, in a way.

But that would be later. She took a deep shuddering breath, letting that anger bleed out. For now, she was Summer, and she was home with her Tai.

She was waiting for him when he returned to the bedroom, and they curled around each other, clinging as if they feared someone would separate them.

And she promised him she would always be there for him.

Summer Rose awoke Saturday morning in her own bed, in her own bedroom, in her own home for the first time in over three years. She could hear Tai puttering in the kitchen, and she could smell him on the bedding. She shivered and wormed her way over to the spot he'd vacated, buried her face in his pillow, and lay there, soaking in the experience.

A few minutes later, the smell of food forced her to turn over, and she found Tai standing next to the bed, blond hair tousled and a gently amused smile on his face, holding a tray. He cocked an eyebrow at her, and she groaned and managed to roll over and sit up so he could put it on her lap and set the juice on the nightstand. "Morning, sleepyhead."

She felt her mouth curl up. "Morning, Tai." She watched the play of emotions across his face, in his blue eyes.

"I… I half expected that when I came back here with the tray, you wouldn't be there." His voice started shaking about halfway through the sentence. "You're really here."

"I'm here, Tai." She looked around the room. "I keep switching between feeling like I never left, and terrified this is all some hallucination… that I finally broke." Tai leaned in and squeezed her, careful not to dump the tray on her lap.

"I think we're both gonna have a few issues for a while, eh?"

"You think?"

He looked at her eyepatch. She'd kept it on last night. "Does it hurt?"

"Itches mostly. I forget about it most of the time. Except when it screws up my depth perception." She sighed. "Not gonna be a world-class Huntress anymore, that's for sure."

"Not that you want that now?"

"Not that I want that. I want… I want to be a mom, and a wife, and... I had a lot of time to think. About what I'd do if I ever got out of that place."

"Eat first. Then talk." Summer laughed at him. Same old Tai. She took a bite of the omelet, chewed and swallowed.

"I think I'd like to teach… it'd let me keep an eye on things." Tai snorted, and that set her off. "Crap. Tai, that wasn't funny." She glared at him.

"Sorry." He grinned.

Summer sighed. "As. I. Was. Saying. I'd like to be able keep on top of how things are going in the world. I was thinking of applying at Signal first, maybe an Academy when the girls are older."

"So… you'll have to deal with me all day at work, and then here? Haven't you been tortured enough?"

She smirked. "I think I've proven I can handle the pain. Though I may report your puns to the Commission on Remnant Rights."

Tai laughed again. "Eat." He pulled a chair up next to the bed and ate some of the omelet with her. It was really good. "You're… too thin, Summer. I can feel your bones."

She sighed. "It was hard to make myself eat, there. Really, if it hadn't been for Visha, I would have probably starved myself to death."

"Can you tell me? I… I want you to tell me everything."

That was her Tai. Her rock. He would take it all for her. "Okay." She took a deep breath and began. "Salem tortured me, Tai. She was terrified of these." She pointed to her good eye. "She and her minions took one of my eyes. I think to see if they could figure out how it works."

"Gods. I'll…" Taiyang's strong hands flexed. "I'll kill them. I'll get Qrow and we'll tell Oz-"

"No!" Summer hissed, "Tai. I'm here now, and that's what matters. Whatever thing they had keeping me there, it broke. I felt it, and Raven came within minutes. She took me and the old woman who was the caretaker there. Raven brought me back here, Tai, where I belong. Where we belong. This isn't our war. We can't risk losing you to it, not after what I went through." She gripped his arm. "After what the girls went through. Do you understand?"

"But Summer, three years."

"Three years partly because Oz kept me, all of us, in the dark. I learned things, Tai. Things that Raven had hinted at. She was right." She laughed bitterly. "She's gonna hold that over my head until the kids are grown." She kissed him and caressed his face with one hand. "I'm going to focus on family, now. Let Ozpin play his secret war-games. Let him treat someone else as his pawns. We need to protect our family."

Tai frowned. "The kids?"

"Ruby has my eyes, Tai. If Oz has his way, Ruby'll become a target too. We aren't going to let that happen." She looked at Tai carefully. "Right? You're with me. This is important, Tai. Family has to come first."

Tai had never seen Summer like this. Oh, she'd always been a devoted mother, but she'd also been a Huntress. She'd always been the first one to trust their old Headmaster, to volunteer for his missions. This… he was shocked, but he shouldn't have been. Three years of torture and imprisonment and of isolation. He couldn't imagine what that had been like. He nodded. "You know I'm with you, Summer. Whatever you decide."

"Good. Raven is on board too. That'll just leave Qrow. He might not be happy with my decision."

"He'll get over it." Tai gave a grim smile. "Qrow's a big boy."

"Qrow's a big baby. He'll be blubbering his butt off as soon as he sees me." She giggled, and Tai's heart sang. Then she sobered. "Which leads to the next issue. Based on the timing, I figure we've got three weeks before Salem's resupply crew figures out the prison is empty. We need to prepare. I don't want everyone to know all at once that I'm back, okay? Let's do this carefully so word doesn't get back to Her. You understand?"

"She's got… spies?"

"You betcha. Like I said, they expected me to die in that cell. I learned things. I learned that Oz was hiding a lot from us." She waved a hand. "Oh, I'm sure it was 'for our own good' or because he didn't know if he could trust us. But we trusted him. I trusted him. I deserved to know what I was really fighting, and why, and I didn't. But I know this… yes, Salem has spies and agents. Two of them were good enough that they could have put me down. And one is some sort of technological genius, and a freaking arrogant jerk. We have to be careful about what we say over scrolls. You understand? We have to be a lot more careful, for us and the girls."

Tai swallowed. "Right. Gods, Summer. You're scaring the hell out of me."

"Sorry, not sorry. I'm here to scare the hell out of you. Though it's not all bad; Raven's made some allies that should be able to help protect us."

"Where did they… hurt you?"

Summer lifted her PJ top, and she saw his face pale at the sight of the deep scar tissue on her abdomen. He'd felt those scars last night, but they looked worse than they felt.

Then he asked to see her eye socket, and she showed him that too.

His eyes kept focusing back and forth between her beautiful silver eye, and what they'd done to the other. And he started to shake. "I know you said this wasn't our war… but if I ever see those bastards, I'll kill them. You know that, right? What they did to you… to us." She didn't like the look on his face and grasped his hand.

"It's okay. I'm going to be okay, Tai. Just keep fattening me up, and I promise. I'm here, for you and the girls. That's enough for now. We can figure out revenge later. Okay?"

He stared at her. "Ok. For now. But you need counselling, Summer. You know that, right? People don't go through things like this and come out as calm as you are right now. It's not… healthy."

"Prolly still in shock from the whole 'going to die in prison one day then a wild Raven appears and then I'm home in my bed being cuddled by my husband' thing." Summer smiled. And she felt it. She wasn't putting on an act.

He laughed in disbelief. "And there's my Summer Rose. Gods." He kissed her again. "Finish your breakfast. I intend to 'fatten you up' in record time. We need to talk about how to break this to the girls, and how much to tell them tomorrow."

"Let's… keep it light, and simple. They'll notice the scars eventually, and I can't hide the eye, but I think we can avoid words like torture, y'know?"

"Yeah." He leaned in and kissed her once more. "Eat. Then you owe me more cuddles."

"I think I do."

They spent the rest of the day together like that. She even tried to help him cook dinner for them, though that never ended well, even before she'd been taken prisoner.

But it was just another way to reconnect.

By that evening, they had fallen well back into routine, one that three years of absence couldn't dim.

That night, they finished what they'd started the previous night. By the end of it, they knew each other again, the way only two lovers can, and fell asleep sated, exhausted, and happy.

Sometime in the night, Summer's scroll pinged with a response message, though she didn't see it until the next morning.

SL: Safe back in Argus. Visha staying with Raven for a while. So happy for you. Call when you are ready.

The next morning after breakfast, Tai reluctantly left Summer alone in the house to go collect their girls from the sleepover.

Less than an hour later, nine-year-old Yang Xiao-Long sat in the back seat of the car next to her little sister. Ruby was chattering happily with their dad about all the fun stuff they'd done on the sleepover. And it had been fun. Violet was eight, so between Yang and Ruby in age, and had lots of video games and stuff. Tai was listening and nodding along, with a huge smile on his face.

But Yang felt like something was really, really off.

It had started when he'd gotten there. He was just so… happy. Happier than she'd seen him in a long time. Yang started playing detective in her head.

She and Ruby had been out of the house. And now their dad was really really happy. Had he… had a date?

She knew adults dated. She wasn't sure what adults did on dates. But the thought made her mad. He couldn't go out on dates. He was still married to mom… and mom… she was… she might still come back.

She knew she was being dumb. There was the stone and the plaque in that spot where Summer had liked to take her and Ruby. Dad and Uncle Qrow had it made. They knew she was gone. Yang… she just couldn't believe it. Wouldn't believe it.

And then, after he'd picked them up, dad had said there was a big surprise for them when they got home. He'd said that someone would be waiting there to see them.

She felt a hot ball of anger in her tummy. He really had brought someone over. Someone he wanted them to meet. It was… there was no way in heck she was going to accept a new mom. Not after Raven and then… and then… No. Just no!

She didn't realize the car had gone quiet.

"Yang?" Ruby whined. "What's wrong?"

Yang blinked, and realized Ruby was looking at her with those big silver eyes full of worry. Then Yang looked forward and saw Tai's concerned expression in the mirror and tried to wipe the frown off her face. "Nothing," she huffed. "Just wish we coulda stayed another night," she lied.

"Oh. Yeah, me too! We could have played Grimm Apocalypse again! I know we could have beaten that Wyvern if we'd had another ten tries!" Ruby made hand gestures, "BANG! SLASH! SWISH!"

Yang felt herself grin as her anger faded quickly. It was nearly impossible to be mad around her little sis.

She looked forward and saw Tai's face change back to that stupid grin he'd had the whole ride, and she was mad all over again, though she hid it better this time.

Grrrrrr… I'm gonna hate this.

Not long after, all three of them stood on the porch of their house, because their dad gotten all weird and had stopped them from going inside. "Okay girls. I told you I had a surprise for you."

He looked like he was gonna cry. Why was he gonna cry?

"And she's waiting inside for you."

Seven-year-old Ruby's silver eyes were as big as saucers. She was trembling. "Is it…. Is it…. Mom?" she whispered, staring at her dad.

"You'll just have to go inside and see." Tai said mysteriously, still with that stupid smile on his face.

Yang felt like throwing up. It wasn't mom. She knew it wasn't. Dad is just being stupid. There's no way that they went away on a sleepover and mom came home while they were gone. That was a stupid dream she'd had, more than once, and then she would wake up and mom wouldn't be there, and that always hurt too much.

And then Ruby ran into the house, door banging behind her.

Yang tensed, waiting for the tears.

And then Ruby was screaming at the top of her high-pitched vocal cords.

"MOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM! MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM MOM!" And she was sobbing, and a woman's voice was sobbing and saying "Ruby! Ruby! Baby!" Over and over and over.

Yang felt the world shift under her feet. She stared at her dad; violet eyes as wide as they could get. Her dad knelt down in front of her. His face was soft and he was smiling so big! Whenever Yang smiled like that, he always told her she was gonna break her face. He put his hands on her shoulders.

"Dad?" she asked in a small voice. "It is…?"

He nodded. "She came back, Yang. She got away, and she came back." He turned her toward the door. "Go on," he said gently. "She's waiting for you."

Yang didn't run. Her legs barely worked. She turned to the door, pushing it slowly open, and carefully walked into the room, waiting a second for her eyes to adjust to the dimmer light inside.

"Mom…"

It was her. It was Summer. She was kneeling on the floor in the middle of the room, Ruby hanging off her and blubbering, and she was crying and smiling too.

And she had one arm stretched out toward Yang.

"Baby…"

"Mom…" Yang's feet pushed her forward and she felt herself drawn into a warm body. Summer's body. Her mom's body. She knew the feeling of it, the smell of it. She was even wearing her mom's clothes. She felt herself starting to shake. "It's you…"

"It's me, Yang. I'm back. I'm staying."

"M-Mom," Yang sobbed.

Yang and Ruby wouldn't let her go. With Tai's help, they managed to coordinate the tangle of bodies and limbs back onto the couch. Ruby was tucked up under one arm, her own small lithe arms curled around Summer as best they could. Yang had the other one of Summer's arms clutched tightly, and she couldn't stop staring at her mom.

Dad was doing dad things in the kitchen, making lunch, and laughing quietly to himself, smiling the whole time.

"You're so thin, mom. What happened? And your eye?" Yang asked quietly, studying her face.

"Ah, well. I had a little accident, Yang, when I was on a mission. And I got hurt." She fingered her eyepatch. "They kept me from you, and the food wasn't very good," she fibbed, "so I didn't eat enough." She nuzzled Ruby's hair. "It took a while, but Raven found me, and she brought me home." She nodded toward the kitchen. "Tai's going to make lunch, I'll be filling back out in no time."

"Oh… okay," Yang nodded, never taking her eyes off Summer's face.

"Mom?"

Summer looked down at the dark-haired waif. "Yes, Ruby?"

"You're… you're not going away again, are you?"

"No, baby. I'm going to stay in Patch for a while. And if we go anywhere, we're all going together."

Ruby exhaled. "Okay. That's good. I don't want you to go away anymore. It was scary." She swallowed. "People kept telling me you weren't coming home. But I knew you would. I knew." Silver eyes scanned the room. "We tried to look for you, mom."

"Ruby… you weren't supposed to talk about that!" Yang hissed, eyes going wide. "You're gonna get us in trouble!"

"M'sorry."

"It's okay," Summer laughed, and Yang's heart soared. "We have lots to catch up on. And lots of time to do it. I'm not going anywhere." Summer's face went steely for a second, then she smiled again.

Yang thought for a second. "Does Uncle Qrow…?"

"Not yet. And that reminds me. This is very, very important. I need you girls to keep me a secret for a little while, from everybody. Okay? We're going to tell people little by little. You've got me, I'm here. But I don't want everyone mobbing us at once, that would mean less time for us four. Okay? This is important, and that includes telling Qrow. Do you promise?"

Both girls nodded their heads. "Yeah." "Promise!"

"Good. I think lunch is ready. And you girls have to help Tai make sure that I eat enough." Her silver eye danced.

Somewhere inside, she knew that her return wouldn't feel really real for a while. She needed more days with her girls, and nights alone with Tai.

But she also knew there was no way in heck they were going to pry the girls away from her side for days. She sighed. And that was okay. Tai'll be there for me. I can wait. And besides, she could already feel that empty hole in her chest slowly filling. Home. The sight and smell and feel of her girls. Ruby's tiny hands curled around her. Yang tucked against her.

Mom came back, just like I knew she would.

Ruby lay curled up against her mom, hands gripping Summer's pajamas top, fighting sleep as hard as her seven-year-old body could manage. She wanted to stay awake. She wanted to stay awake all night and listen to her mom breathing beside her.

I told dad. Nothing could keep mom away from us. Nothing and nobody. The thought filled her with warmth.

But something did, a fearful voice in her head argued. For a really long time.

But she came back. Mom's the best. She's the best mom and the strongest Huntress ever.

But someone else was stronger.

Or maybe they just caught her by surprise.

Can't let that happen again. Never ever ever. Yang and me will watch for bad people. Yeah. And… and… I'll be a kick-butt Huntress too one day. So I can watch mom's back.

Yeah.

That'd be so cool...

And with the surety of seven-year-old logic, Ruby finally let sleep claim her.

That night, as she lay in bed listening to Tai snoring away, Yang and Ruby's sleeping forms curled up against her on either side, Summer felt her heart finally overfill, and started to cry softly. Quietly, so as not to wake her family, she wept tears of happy relief.

Her family, where she belonged.

Thank you, Selene. She thought to the person whose name she couldn't say out loud, even to Tai. Not yet. I won't forget this.

The next week burned past. They kept the girls home from school, claiming a that there was a virus running through the household. Tai took a week of sick leave to take care of the girls. Violet's family called once to make sure it wasn't something the girls had caught from their house, and Tai reassured them, and said it wasn't extremely serious, but he didn't want to spread it around further. That seemed to mollify them.

But what they really did was spend an entire week learning how to be a family again. They cooked and ate meals together. Summer baked cookies. They played video games and board games. They joked and laughed.

And they held onto each other, a lot. Ruby especially barely let go of her mom if she could help it. Everyone was happy, but there was a slightly fragile quality to it.

And every night, Summer told her daughters a bedtime story. Well, her daughters and husband, who listened with a soft smile.

The only hitch had been when Ruby had asked to see her mom's eye. That had been tough. Both girls had dissolved into sobs within minutes, and taken Summer and then Tai with them. But that didn't last either, and by the next day they were back to smiles and hugs, though Summer would catch Ruby staring at the eyepatch when she thought her mom wasn't looking.

What Summer knew, but the others didn't, was that she was still waiting for one last thing. One last message from Selene. The message that would tell her whether she… and her family… were safe, or whether Raven would be showing up to whisk them away somewhere else.

But together. That was the key. No matter what, they would stay together.

And that mattered.

[A/N] Special thanks to my previous chapter reviewers DragonL0RD, Jack Redhawke, AtomicR4y, and Shadowstorm-Vash!

I wrote this chapter and the previous one months ago, and it's been killing me waiting for the story to catch up to it. I can tell you as a writer, that I *felt* that reunion, and I hope I was able to get that feeling across to you folks, too.

Summer's back, boys and girls, and while her first priority is going to be her family and keeping them safe, if she can poke Salem and Ozpin in the eye in the process, she'll damn well do that too.

Qrow is gonna cry like a damn baby. Count on it.

Ozpin? He's gonna be in for a nasty surprise.

Next Chapter (Chapter 45: Branwen Encampment - Straight as the Qrow Flies) to be published April 1st. No fooling!