Idiot girl. It was her own damn fault. Raven may have taken her there, but she thought…Once she saw what she was up against, she thought…By all rights, she should have turned right back around, walked through her portal, and gone to bed with her Husband. She should have woken up to sunshine and rainbows, and greeted her children with a happy smile in the morning.
But she didn't. And now she was dead.
She should have tried to stop her anyways. Or at the very least, brought someone else through a portal, Qrow, or Tai, or someone.
But she didn't. And now she was dead.
Because that's the way that Summer is - was. She was a leader. Years of fighting along Raven's side had made sure she knew what buttons to press to get her to agree. She had screamed, begged, and cajoled for months in private, and even managed to make Raven think that she might actually have a chance at ending this, once and for all.
But she didn't. And now she was dead. And no matter how many times she tried to tell herself otherwise, she knew it was her fault. Because Summer had told her to leave, that she could handle the rest on her own, and she had listened.
Her Brother was drinking himself half to death, leaving no stone unturned as he scoured Remnant for any shred of Summer Rose's fate. Last she heard, he broke Lionheart's jaw when he had suggested perhaps he should call off the search.
Her former Husband had shut down completely. He would lock himself in his room for days at a time, staring mournfully at mementos of days long past. And while he lost himself in the past, he had seemingly become oblivious to the fact that Qrow had left weeks ago, and that he paid no heed to his own children.
Her daughter, If she still had any right to call her that, had thankfully seemed to take a page out of her Uncle's book, and at least try to do something. Only, she seemed to have far more success. Raven was proud of her. Instead of waiting around in the vain hope that her father would snap out of his grieving, Yang had stepped up, learning how to care for herself and her sister. Raven was also angry. Yang shouldn't have been forced to do that, and neither should Summer's girl, either. That was part of why She left her with Tai and the others. So she wouldn't have to grow up like She and Qrow did, fending for themselves. They should keep their childhood.
But, then, it wasn't Tai's fault, was it? Not really. Because the only reason he's shut down, and the only reason Qrow isn't there to notice, is because Summer was dead.
And it's her fault.
Raven sighed as she sat in her tent, running her hand through her hair. She had been thinking about Beacon more and more these past few days. In particular, one incident stood out, recurring in her thoughts.
It was their second year. By now, Summer had learned the truth about why She and Qrow had come to Beacon, but had wisely chosen not to confront them. Not yet, anyhow. That was a messier affair, involving her Brother throwing Summer off the roof of Beacon, and the two of them hastily running off in the middle of the night. It had been a long trip back to Mistral, and a much more tearful one when Tai and Summer came to bring them back.
But that wasn't the memory that kept digging its way into her mind, day and night. Before Summer came to Qrow that day, she had tried to ease the Branwens into the idea that She could be trusted, that she wouldn't care about their past. Not that she would ever have succeeded.
Too many years of Her and Qrow being burned every time someone extended a helping hand. They never would have listened to Summer, not the first time around, anyways. Besides, they were already jumpy. By the time Summer found out, Qrow and Raven had found that they were happy around their teammates, and it scared them. They were itching to run back to the Branwen Tribe, if only because it was something familiar.
She had been sparring. Alone, with a dummy, late into the night, and oftentimes well into the morning. It was what she usually did when she wanted to avoid the uncomfortable feelings that came with being around her teammates.
"Mind if I join?" a timid voice squeaked. In hindsight, Summer had probably been psyching herself up for most of the day, but at the time, it just seemed like Summer had chosen an odd time for training. After all, It wasn't as if she was in a position to criticize an odd schedule.
"Yes." She had spat out. Brothers, she had been bitter then. "I'm busy. Leave me be."
Summer shrugged. "Suit yourself." But she didn't leave. Raven tried to ignore her, but she kept glancing at Summer out of the corner of her eyes. She didn't move to join her, or admonished her for practicing so late, she simply sat and watched. And it had frustrated her to no end.
"What?" She finally shouted. "What could be so important, you feel it necessary to intrude?"
"It's Two in the morning." Summer said calmly.
"So?" Raven questioned.
"This is the third time this week alone that you've come down here and worked yourself to exhaustion well past midnight."
"So?" Raven repeated.
"So," Summer began, standing up. "You're going to end up getting yourself hurt. Sooner rather than later, I'd bet. Which means someone is going to have to have to stay with you to make sure that doesn't happen. As team leader, I've decided that responsibility falls to me." Summer paused for a moment, before continuing. "Of course, that's the excuse I'm going to use if Ozpin or someone catches us this late. I don't really care about any team leader nonsense, I'm here because I'm worried about my friend."
Raven hadn't had anything to say to that, then or now for that matter. She had just shut her mouth, turned and gone back to whaling on a practice dummy. Summer, for her part, hadn't pressed her. She'd simply sat back down and watched. Raven hadn't gone to the gym the next night. There wasn't any point, if half the reason she left in the first place decided to follow her there.
Why? Why did that memory, of all things, keep returning to her? Because of what Summer did for her? She could name a thousand such moments. When she came to bring her and her brother back to their real home. When she learned about her eyes, and saved them all on a mission nearly gone wrong.
When She had set aside her own feelings, telling no one but Qrow, so that Raven might be happy with Tai, if only for a while. It plagued her, that memory, and even worse, she couldn't for the life of her understand why.
"Boss!" Her head snapped towards the disruption. One of her men stood at the entrance to her tent with a panicked look in his eyes. "We're under attack! There's a man out there, screaming for you to come out!"
Raven raised an eyebrow. "We're under attack…from one man…and you come running for me?"
The messenger winced. "He's Huntsman trained, miss. He's tossing some of the veterans around like toys."
She sighed. Qrow. She knew her Brother would come sooner or later. He had to. It just depended on how desperate his search for Summer got. "Go hide in a corner somewhere. I shall handle my Brother." His eyes widened, before running off. Raven shook her head. The messenger had been one of the newer editions to the tribe, so she couldn't quite blame him for not knowing who Qrow was. Still, it was another sign of the Tribes recent troubles. Once, they were feared all across Mistral, their efforts curbed only by Huntsmen. But since the Twins initial departure, they had fallen to the same old highway robbery schemes as every other two-bit gang in Anima. Now none but the older veterans of the Tribe remembered Her and Qrow from before. Raven would change things. Make them better. For better or worse, they were the only family she had now, so she may as well turn them into something to be respected, feared.
But that was for later. Now, she must speak with her Brother.
A body flew past her as she stepped outside, crashing into some barrels. The girl groaned in pain before presumably falling unconscious. "C'mon, that the best you've got? This is what passes for Branwen's nowadays? You didn't even spot me till I walked right up to the gate. Raven! Where the hell are you? Get your sorry ass out here!"
Her Brother was, shockingly, drunk. He stood roughly in the center of their encampment, with several bodies strewn haphazardly around him. Raven crossed her arms and called out to him. "Would you please stop assaulting my men? I don't want to deal with their whining in the morning when they wake bruised with headaches."
Qrow turned towards her voice a bit too fast, nearly falling down. He raised a finger and pointed at her. "You and I gotta have a little chat."
"I doubt you have anything meaningful to say with how you are now. Your drunk, Brother. Go home." She replied.
"Funny you should say that." He scowled. "Considering you're the one who left home."
"I am home, Qrow." She corrected.
"Some home you got." He scoffed. "This place is one bad storm away from getting blown away, and I just handed your little family's asses on a silver platter, while drunk. Great choice you made there, Raven"
She ignored him. "What do you want?"
"Oh, what, now you wanna cut to the chase? Fine. Take me to Summer."
This was what she had been waiting for. "I can't do that, Qrow."
He rolled his eyes. "Look, I don't care about whatever crap you have against her right now, but this goes a little beyond that. Just take me to her and I'll be outta your-"
"I don't have anything against Summer, Qrow." Raven interrupted. "I'm certainly not jealous, if that's what you're implying. I can't take you to Summer, because Summer's dead."
His face seemed to go through several phases, from confusion, to realization, before he seemed to contemplate his next words. He nodded to himself, as if accepting what she had said, before launching towards her, Harbinger already in its scythe form.
Raven managed to parry in time, stepping to the side as she did, but she was caught off guard. She expected a fight to break out sooner or later, only…Qrow was much faster than she was expecting. Much angrier too. He didn't usually use Harbinger as a scythe, certainly not from the start like that.
"Qrow, you're going to get one of us hurt." She warned.
"That's kinda the idea." He snarled, rushing forward again. Raven made to parry once more, but her sword snapped once he made contact, and she was thrown back for her efforts. She frowned. Her blades were intentionally fragile, but it shouldn't have just shattered like that. It must've been her brother's semblance at play.
Qrow fired off two shots as she stood up, one going wide, and the other knocking into her gut. She quickly replaced her blade, and opened a portal preparing to attack him from behind. Her brother was prepared though, and she caught a boot to her chin for her troubles.
She spat and stepped forward, delivering a punch to the right side of his face with her off hand, and slicing Omen horizontally afterwards, carving out a chunk of his aura.
He staggered backwards. He seemed to prepare himself for another rush, before just…deflating. He collapsed Harbinger, stowing it behind his back, and messily stumbled to the ground, panting.
"Raven," He started, in between breaths. "If you're lying…"
"I'm not. What could I possibly gain from lying here? She was my friend too, Qrow, and believe it or not, I never wished her harm." I simply let it happen.
He scowled. "Don't start. You don't get to say that, that you were her friend. You ditched her, and all the rest of us too, to go play bandit."
"I'm not going to explain myself to you." She said.
"Then what about Yang?" He countered.
Raven bit her lip. What about her? She had nearly said. It was what she was supposed to say, to maintain the illusion she had made that she was above them, that she had left that life behind her. It was what he expected her to say. But she couldn't.
"She's taking it bad, y'know." Qrow began quietly. "Ruby, that's Summer's kid, is a bit too young to really get what's happened. She's just confused. Yang, though? She's just old enough to realize her mom ain't coming back, but too young to understand why. Or that she can't do anything about it." He looked up, meeting her eyes. "She just wants her Mom to come home."
Raven took a deep breath. "Then she will learn to live with the loss. Her mother is dead, and she isn't coming back." And it's her fault.
Qrow scoffed. "Dunno why I bothered. If you didn't care about her enough to stay in the first place, you sure as hell wouldn't care enough about her to come back."
Raven once again ignored him. "I can't take you to Summer, and you seemed to have worked out whatever anger you had pent up. Are you finished here?"
Qrow glared at her for another moment, before standing. "Yeah, I am. See, I got a family I have to get back to. Brother-in-law to break the news to, a couple of nieces I need to make sure are doing alright."
"You do that." Raven said nonchalantly.
Qrow sighed, and his shoulders sunk. "Would it kill you to give a damn, Raven?" He turned and began walking away. She blinked, and her Brother was gone, and a Crow had taken flight over the woods of Mistral.
"Uhm, Boss?" Raven turned her head. The messenger from before had spoken up. "What now?"
"Now, you shut up and start fixing whatever damage my idiot brother caused. I'll be in my tent. Don't interrupt me."
As she entered her tent, Raven set her sword down, and took off the belt that held her blades. She should be glad. She should feel relieved. She had been dreading the inevitable confrontation with her brother, and now it was over. Better, neither of them were really harmed. Even the idiots who tried taking on a Huntsman would be fine in the morning, if a little bruised.
Instead, she felt sick, like there was some pit in her stomach. She had made the right choice. She had made the only choice. There wasn't any good that she could have done by going back with her brother.
She reclined in her bed, throwing her arm over her eyes. Once again, she began to drift to the night Summer stayed with her in the gym. That stupid, pointless memory that wouldn't stay away. Only, now she began to understand why. It was something Qrow had said, about going back.
Summer had stayed. That's what mattered. That's what had been digging into her subconscious for months. She had stayed with Raven, for no other reason than to make sure she didn't hurt herself. Just like Raven should've. She should have stayed in Beacon, when Summer confronted Qrow. She should have stayed with Tai, stayed there with Yang. She should have ignored Summer, and stayed with her when she took her to Evernight.
But she didn't. And now, Summer was dead.
It was slow at first. A few tears welled up and trailed down her face, as Raven tried desperately to stop them. But once she had started, she began sobbing, uncontrollably. It was ugly, bawling as she muffled the noise, choking into a pillow. She would slow down, and begin to calm herself, before breaking down even louder than before, almost screaming into her pillow. She didn't sleep that night.
Because Summer Rose was dead. And it was her fault.
Right. The blankets were in the wagon already, and so were the snacks and drinks. She had Dad's scroll, and made extra sure it was charged. She swept the floors, and did the dishes. She checked the mail, fed Zwei, (and gave him a little extra in case Dad didn't come out of his room again) and she took out the trash. Now, what was it she was forgetting? Oh! The picture. She couldn't expect to find her mom if she didn't know what she looked like.
Yang mostly remembered, but she'd only had the picture for a week, and sometimes she forgets things, especially now since she's had so many extra chores to do, so she wanted to have the picture just in case.
She ran up the stairs to her room, and reached under her pillow, pulling out the only tangible proof that her mom exists. Yang frowned, staring at the tall, pale woman, with black hair, long and curly like her own, and red eyes like Uncle Qrow.
She wasn't supposed to be her Mom. Summer was supposed to be her mom. Using her name sounds weird, Yang thought. But she's not my mom. Not really. That's what the letter said. Yang set the photo down as she began to wake her sister, and thought back to the stupid letter that caused this whole mess in the first place.
It was right before Uncle Qrow left to go look for Mom - Summer. He had been visiting for a couple weeks after she left, which was awesome, cause he never stayed for that long. Only, he and Dad had been acting kinda weird. Dad was always on the phone with someone, asking them questions. Yang didn't always listen, but when she did, they were about Mom, or someone named Oz. Uncle Qrow was antsy, and he seemed angry, but quiet angry, like how Yang got when she was sent to her room, and it was completely unfair, but she couldn't do anything about it. She made him play video games with her to cheer him up, and it usually worked, but he'd just get quiet angry again in the morning.
"We're sitting around doing nothing Tai, this is stupid!" Yang had her ear to her bedroom door. She wasn't technically supposed to be up this late, but she was asleep when their yelling woke her up, so that made it ok. Ruby, thankfully, was a heavier sleeper. "We're not doing nothing, we're trying to figure out what happened. Oz didn't sanction her mission, so we have absolutely zero idea where to start a search in the first place."
Was that what Dad had been doing? Talking to people to find Mom? Dad had said she was just going on a normal Huntress mission, and he had promised it would be fine, but Yang was a big kid. Mom hadn't come back yet, and Yang was beginning to think she wouldn't. She tried to act confident, because as the big sister she was supposed to set a good example for Ruby, and she thought she was doing well, but she was also pretty sure Uncle Qrow heard her crying a few nights ago.
"We start, by going out, and looking for her. Having no leads just means there's no place to start." Uncle Qrow said.
"We? Qrow, I can't exactly go traipsing around Remnant, I have two daughters here."
"Oh really?" Uncle Qrow started. "You coulda fooled me. You've spent the last few weeks on the phone for hours on end, or locked inside your room. And I get it, Tai, I really do, but I have to go look for Summer, and if I do that, you gotta raise your damn kids. You forgot to make breakfast, Tai. I had to make breakfast. It took me an hour to fry some damn eggs properly!"
She heard her father sigh, and the wooden floor began to creak as footsteps moved away. "I'm serious, Tai!" Her uncle cried out. "I'm leaving in the morning! I'm not telling you to not worry, I'm asking you to keep it together for the girls."
There was no answer as Yang heard the sound of a door slamming shut. Her uncle muttered under his breath. "Asshole." A set of heavier footsteps began moving close to her. He's coming to say goodbye, she realized. She quietly slipped back into bed, turning away from Ruby, facing the wall. He always made sure to say goodbye to at least one of them before he left, even if he had to wake them up. Yang frowned. He really was leaving, then.
The door to their room creaked open, and a moment later she felt a hand on her shoulder. "You awake, firecracker?" Her uncle whispered. Yang turned around, rubbing her eyes and feigning a yawn. "Uncle Qrow?"
He smiled. "You hear all that, huh?"
Her eyes widened. "N-No! You just woke me-" She began to defend herself, but he interrupted.
"It doesn't matter." He cut her off with a wave of his hand. "It was our fault anyhow. Should've kept our voices down. Your Dad and I had a bit of a disagreement, over what we should be doing, is all."
"Was it about Mom?" She asked, abandoning all pretense of being tired.
"It was." He confirmed. Her uncle scratched the back of his head as he tried to figure out what to say next. "Look, you're not nearly old enough to have to be dealing with all this-"
"Hey!" She whispered angrily.
"But you're not as young as, say, Ruby, and that doesn't change the fact that you're dealing with it anyways." He finished. "You know something happened, right?"
Yang nodded.
"It's a little complicated, but the gist of it is, your mom is missing, and no one knows where she is right now. So, I gotta go find her."
"You'll find her then, right?" She asked hopefully.
"I'll find out what happened, yeah." He said. "Promise."
That's not what I asked, She thought. But he didn't expect her to pick up on that, and she kept her mouth shut. She had something else on her mind as well.
She desperately wanted to ask him about the letter. She had found it a week ago, while she was dusting the shelves. Her Dad had left it on a pile with a bunch of other mail he had gotten since Mom disappeared, and had probably long forgotten about it.
She would have as well, except for the fact that the letter had been opened, and she happened to spot her name mentioned.
Now, she knew she wasn't supposed to go snooping around stuff that didn't belong to her, but dad also told her you shouldn't talk about people behind their back, so she figured it was alright to at least peek.
Whoever it was that had wrote it, went on and on and on, and used a bunch of words Yang didn't understand yet, so she didn't really understand a whole lot of it, other than it was from some Huntsman buddy of Dad's, but she did find out why she had been brought up, towards the end of the letter.
The letter offered condolences, and well wishes in the safe return of her mom. It mentioned how good of a job Dad was doing raising them. And then, it mentioned about whether Dad was going to tell her about her real Mother. Her real mother. Which meant Summer wasn't her mother. But, if she wasn't then who was? Yang didn't have a clue, and had almost dismissed the letter entirely, except she had found a picture, later that night when she went to place the letter. And she had recognized everyone in the picture, except for one tall lady next to her Uncle.
Who had Red eyes, just like her Uncle. Who had long, curly hair, just like her.
"You alright there, kiddo?" Her Uncle asked, picking up on her pause. She wanted so badly to ask him, to have him tell her she was being silly, and the letter was nonsense, and of course Summer was her mom. But she didn't ask any of those things. She just kept her mouth shut and nodded.
Her Uncle seemed satisfied with her answer. "Alright, you get back to bed now, and don't tell your dad I woke you up for this. Oh! And keep an eye out for Ruby, will ya? She doesn't understand what's going on as well as you do."
Again, Yang nodded. Uncle Qrow ruffled her hair one last time, before leaving her room, gently closing the door shut. Yang shuddered as she released a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. The moment was gone, there was no asking about the letter unless she went to her Dad, and she wasn't sure she would get an answer. She wasn't even sure he would realize she asked a question.
She made up her mind. The letter had mentioned that her Dad might find her real mother in Mistral. Uncle Qrow talked about it all the time, so it couldn't be that far away. And sure, it was a big place to look, but she just had to ask a bunch of people and one of them was bound to know her mom. Then she can come home with her and Ruby, and cheer up Dad, and everything can go back to normal.
At least, that had been the plan. Now, standing out on the road, with Ruby loaded up in the wagon, almost ready to leave, she wasn't so sure. She was just nervous. That's all. Once they got going, everything would get easier, and Yang would look back and laugh at how silly she was being.
Her eyes widened in realization. The picture! She had left it on her bed when she woke Ruby up to bring her outside. Yang bit her lip, but decided against heading back. If she went in now, she didn't think she'd be able to go back out. And she needed to find her mom.
Yang shook her head, took a deep breath, and began walking, wagon in tow.
Qrow moaned in agony, as a migraine pounded in his skull.
It was his fault, he knew. He had no one to blame but himself. He had figured he may as well get as drunk as he could before he met with his sister, or else he wouldn't have been able to convince himself to go.
It was an excuse, and a poor one at that. He was tired, from running all over Remnant chasing rumors. Again, and again, having his hopes dashed as another lead was shot down, each time the chance of Summer's survival growing slimmer and slimmer.
And even if things were different, If Raven had been able to take him to her, what, was he supposed to save her wasted? Qrow knew what had happened to Summer as soon as he found out Oz hadn't signed off on her mission. Summer would only have one reason to lie to Tai, and that was if she knew it was something he would object to.
And Tai? One of the world's best Huntsmen, married to one of the world's best Huntresses, who he knew full well was capable of taking care of herself? There was pretty much only one thing Summer could have done he would have objected to.
And if she wasn't back now, it meant she wasn't coming back.
Raven was a last-ditch effort, the last little hope he had that maybe, maybe, he was wrong. And maybe, somewhere, he had hoped that he could bring Raven back to her family. Not even permanently, just pop by and hug your damn daughter so she stops crying herself to sleep at night.
But that had been wishful thinking on his part. That, and holding out hope for Summer.
So here he was, standing outside the front door, too afraid to knock.
It reminded him of the last time he had been forced to come as the bearer of bad news. Raven had spat in his face and told him she wasn't coming back. They had fought back then, like they did this time. Neither of them won either. And he had been too afraid to knock, just like he was now.
Only, Summer had known him too well. He had told them ahead of time he was coming, and apparently she was checking the door every half hour, when she wasn't helping out with Yang. She didn't leave him anytime to brood, she just brought him into a hug, and told him they'd all get through this. And they had.
Qrow frowned. Summer wouldn't come out this time. She was gone, and the kids ought to be in bed by now. And Tai, well, he was probably locked up in his room right about now. He sighed, and stepped inside, careful to gently close the door.
He gave a quick glance around the house. It seemed pretty well kept, all things considered. Floors were swept, tables and bookshelves dusted, dishes washed, and no big piles of crap in sight.
He made his way over to the front of Tai's door, knocking lightly a few times. No answer. He tried turning the doorknob, but, as he thought, it was locked. Qrow sighed in resignation. No point doing this earlier than he needed to. Let him have tonight, at least, before Qrow had to break the news to him.
Qrow almost went straight for the room they kept for him, but paused right outside the girl's door. He didn't want to wake them up, but after a day like this, he needed to at least see them, for his own peace of mind, if nothing else. He'd just pop in for a moment, make sure everything was fine, and try to get some sleep before the inevitable mess that would be tomorrow - Wait, why was the room empty?
He frowned. He wasn't exactly sure what age normal kids started sneaking out, but he was pretty sure it wasn't six years old. And why was Ruby gone too? Maybe they're just out playing in the backyard, and I didn't hear them. Even as he thought the words, though, his eyes fell on a certain picture laying on top of Yang's bed.
A familiar picture. A copy of the very same one he kept on him at all times. A picture that, under no circumstances, Yang should have with her. Not yet. Understanding began to dawn on him. He raced around the house, looking for something, anything really, to dispel his suspicions.
He found it on the top of a neatly stacked pile of papers on one of the bookshelves. A letter, addressed to Tai, from Professor Port. A quick skim of its contents confirmed his fears. It was a letter sending his condolences, and best wishes in their search for Summer. Most of it was pointless nonsense, mixed in with anecdotes from their Beacon years, but towards the end he suggested reaching out to Raven, in the hopes that Summer's life potentially being in danger may be enough to get her to come back, and possibly even help with the search. At the very least she might properly meet her daughter.
He couldn't really blame the guy. It was a good idea. Hell, didn't he just get back from trying, and failing, to do just that? Problem was,that letter was never meant for Yang to see. And with the way some of it was worded…
It might lead her to draw certain conclusions. And if Tai didn't bother to come out of his room long enough for Yang to at least ask a few questions, well, she might go looking for answers herself. And being the good big sister that she was, naturally she would bring Ruby along so she could keep an eye on her, while she presumably went to look for her mother.
Who she's never met. When she has no idea where to look. Where she's never once gone into the woods without someone to watch her. And to top it all off, sooner or later, Grimm would come. Maybe they'd run into them naturally, or maybe they'd be drawn to her and Ruby. After all, It's a very scary thing, a kid her age going out into the wild all alone.
In a moment, Qrow was out the door, and almost immediately took flight, hoping Yang had the good sense to at least stick to the road.
Her stomach growled, her arms were sore, and her feet were beginning to ache, but Yang kept pulling the wagon. It was getting late, and Uncle Qrow always said you don't want to be caught outside at night time if you don't know what you're doing. Mom used to say it too, so it was double good advice.
Summer, she corrected in her mind. Summer used to say it too.
Still, it was beginning to look like she might not have a choice. The sun was setting fast, and even if she turned around now, she wouldn't make it back home before dark.
So, she kept walking.
Why did she think this was a good idea? She had no idea where she was going, She gave Ruby the last of her snacks an hour ago, and she knew the water wasn't going to last as long as she thought it would. She was scared, and she didn't know what she was doing, and this whole thing was just one big, stupid mistake.
All Yang had wanted was to maybe find the lady who was supposed to be her mom, so she could maybe come back, and then Dad wouldn't be sad anymore, and everything could go back to normal.
Except even if her mom did come back, Summer wouldn't. And Yang missed Summer, not her mom. This whole thing was a dumb idea in the first place. She didn't even know her mom, and if she had left right after Yang had been born, it was pretty clear she didn't want to know her, either. Yang didn't care anymore. Not right now, at least. Right now, all she wanted was to erase the last few hours and just go back home.
But she couldn't. So she kept walking.
On and on, until, without any sort of warning, Yang heard a snap coming from her left, and she turned her head. Just off the road, a lone Beowolf crouched, only a few feet away. Her eyes widened, paralyzed with fear. Yang had never seen a real Grimm before. It didn't growl, or run at her, or anything. It just seemed to stare, almost curious.
The Grimm sniffed the air, and took a step forward, towards Yang. She snapped out of her daze, and instinctively placed herself between Ruby, still asleep in the wagon, and the Beowolf.
"Go away!" She screamed. "Leave us alone!" Dad, Summer, and Uncle Qrow all said that animals are usually more afraid of you than you are of it. And after all, weren't they just weird animals, except bigger, and meaner, and super evil?
Except, they also said that Grimm fed on fear, and other negative emotions. And right now, Yang was terrified.
The Grimm seemed to sense her fear, as in that instant, it lunged. Yang shut her eyes and threw her arms up, shrieking as loud as she could, as she heard a loud thud.
And…she was still screaming. Her voice died out, and she realized that the noise she had heard couldn't have been the Beowolf attacking her. She was still standing there, perfectly fine. But how? She saw it lunge at her. Slowly, she cracked an eye open.
The remains of the Grimm were slowly dissipating, leaving a very familiar sword embedded in the dirt.
"Made it." Her uncle stood a little bit behind her, hands on his knees, panting as he tried to catch his breath. "You okay? Either of you hurt?"
Slowly, her heart stopped racing, and she realized what happened. The Grimm had almost gotten her, and almost gotten Ruby because of her.
But it didn't, because Uncle Qrow had saved them. She didn't know when he had come back, or how he had found them, but he had. The danger had passed. It was over.
Yang didn't move an inch, as slowly tears began falling down her face, before breaking down crying.
Yang had been quiet for a while now. After he had caught up, he'd tried getting the details of what happened out of her; He had a rough idea, but he wanted to be sure. That wasn't gonna happen anytime soon, though. At first, she was too distraught to get out anything other than a constant stream of apologies, blaming herself, and professing how sorry she was.
It took nearly twenty minutes of assuring her that wasn't the case to calm her down, and he still wasn't sure she believed him. She had at least felt better enough to start heading home. Only, she refused to be away from Ruby, climbing in the wagon and wrapping herself around her little sister, meaning Qrow would be pulling the two of them back.
He didn't mind. He was just glad the two of them were safe. He just wished they didn't have to go through this in the first place. There were so many things that could have gone wrong, so many ways his semblance could have caused a disaster.
Qrow scowled as the house came into view. Yang should never have read that letter. And she certainly should never have been able to sneak out with Ruby, all without their father so much as realizing they were gone.
Qrow exhaled slowly. He would speak with Taiyang soon enough. Right now, he had a couple of nieces scared out of their minds, that he has to make sure get to bed.
He looked behind him, only to find Yang was already climbing out of the wagon, holding Ruby in her arms. She seemed lost, almost like she wasn't completely sure where she was.
"You alright there kiddo?" He asked hesitantly. Her head shot up, looking at him with wide eyes, but she didn't answer.
"Look, we made it back home." He pointed in front of them. He was starting to get a little worried about Yang. "It's a bit late, so I'll just bring you two to your room, and you can get some sleep, okay?" Again, Yang didn't answer, but she did allow herself to be led inside, so Qrow counted it as a win.
They moved past Tai's door, which, Qrow noticed, was still locked shut. When they entered the girls room, Yang pushed herself past him, and set Ruby down on her own bed, climbing in with her.
That's probably for the best. After a night like the one they had, it would do them some good if neither slept alone tonight.
Qrow knelt down beside her bed. Now came the hard part. "Right, I know I said you two need to get some shuteye, and you do, but I got a few questions I gotta ask real quick. Starting with what exactly did you think you were doing tonight?"
Her eyes widened again, in a way that almost made Qrow wince. She shouldn't be scared. She should be relieved she's back home. Another thing he'd have to talk with Tai about. Yang began sputtering. "It was all my fault, I just wanted-"
"No, it wasn't," Qrow interrupted. Today was one long nightmare that he wanted nothing more than for it to end already, but he wasn't going to let Yang go to be blaming herself, not when it wasn't her fault, not really. He could at least manage that.
"I don't know exactly what you were planning, but I saw the letter." Her face fell as he spoke, and she looked away. "You left because of what you read there, right?" Yang nodded slowly. Qrow rubbed her back and brought her in for a hug. "You shouldn't have seen that to begin with. And it's your fathers job to watch you, you should never have made it out of the yard without him noticing."
"But I brought Ruby along-" Yang protested.
"Which was absolutely the right thing to do." He insisted. There was no way he was gonna let her get a word in edgewise. "Sure, in hindsight it wasn't the brightest idea, but you were looking out for your sister. You didn't want to leave her here alone, not when your dad…not when he's acting like how he is now. You did good, kid."
She still didn't look convinced, but at least she didn't argue with him. "Just…why? What was the plan, Yang?" He tried his best to sound understanding.
"The letter said that Summer wasn't my real mom." Yang murmured. "It said maybe my real mom would come back now, if she knew what happened. I just wanted to find her, and bring her here, and maybe cheer dad up so everything could go back to normal." Yang pulled her knees to her chest, and her shoulders sank a little more. "But it was stupid, and I didn't know what I was doing, and I probably wouldn't have found her anyways."
Qrow pinched the bridge of his nose, choosing his next words carefully. "Yang…It's a lot more complicated than that. Even if Raven did come back, things definitely wouldn't be the same."
"I know." Yang whispered. "I think I knew when I left, too. I just…didn't know what else to do."
He almost wanted to laugh. A few days ago, he was halfway across the world trying to do the exact same thing Yang was right here in patch. And with just about the same amount of success, too.
Qrow sighed. "Yang, do you really think Summer's not your real mom?"
She frowned, looking confused. "The letter said-"
"Screw the letter." He waved his hand. "Port means well, but he just used a poor choice of words. Summer was the one who put you to bed at night, and read you stories, right?"
"Right…" Yang answered slowly.
"And she was the one who'd bake you cookies, play games with you, teach you all kinds of weird things, right?"
"Yeah." She said again, a little more sure.
"Summer was the one who raised you, Yang. She changed your diapers, put up with your whining when you were a baby, potty trained you, and did everything she could to be the best mother she could be. Raven, on the other hand, left as soon as she could. Not that it's your fault," He assured her, as soon as her face fell. "But Raven still left. And Summer stayed. It's up to you what you think, Yang, but as far as I'm concerned, Summer's your real mom. And I know for a fact that you meant as much to her as Ruby did. And I think you know that too."
He kissed the top of her forehead. "Try and get some sleep, Yang. We'll talk more in the morning. I'll be around for a little while this time. Goodnight" He left the room, and a glare fell over his face as soon as the door shut. Now, he got to have a little chat with his brother-in-law.
Yang didn't get any sleep.
She had tried, at first, but as soon as Uncle Qrow left, she heard yelling coming from dad's room. She couldn't make out exactly what was being said, but it seemed to be mostly Uncle Qrow yelling at Dad. She curled up tighter around Ruby, who thankfully did manage to sleep. She just wanted today to be over.
Eventually, the yelling died out. And shortly after it did, her door cracked open. "Yang?" a voice whispered. "Are you asleep?" She was so surprised she almost forgot to answer. It wasn't Uncle Qrow, like she had assumed, but her dad. "Yeah, I am." She answered quietly.
Her dad nodded. "I figured. Qrow mentioned he spoke to you earlier, and I really doubt you'd be able to sleep through all that." The room fell silent as neither of them really knew what to say to each other.
"Look, your Uncle and had a long talk, and there's a lot that I need to say to you, and your sister, but now really isn't the time. We'll talk more in the morning I promise, but for now, I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry. I haven't…been doing what I should have, ever since Summer disappeared. And the two of you suffered for it. That wasn't fair. I know it might not mean much, but I promise, starting now, I'm going to do better." Dad let out a heavy sigh as he finished. "Anyways, you can sleep now, for real this time. No more shouting matches to keep you up. Love you."
"Love you too." Yang replied sleepily. She was really tired. And she was relieved too, in a way. Whatever Uncle Qrow said seemed to have worked, if he managed to get Dad to apologize. Hopefully, it will stick.
But even though she was relieved, she couldn't ignore the weird, empty feeling in her chest. She didn't want her dad to have to do better, she just wanted her mom back.
And it is mom, She thought. Not Summer. She was more than just her name. She was her real mother.
In a shocking turn of events, this actually got finished relatively quickly. Two or three weeks, as opposed to months. I think it might actually be the longest chapter to date, as well. On top of that, I absolutely love the first part of this chapter. Writing Tiny Yang was much harder, though.
Luckily, only one more chapter to go, where I'll say a little bit more about what I have planned for the (distant) future. It'll be a much shorter chapter, though it may take a little longer, as I have two or three ideas for the last chapter and I'm not sure which I wanna go with. I'll see you when I see you.
Thank you for reading!