"Don't you see? What comes out of that Tree might not even be your sister any longer!" Taunted The Cat to Yang who to further drive their point home summoned a series of zombified clones of Ruby.
Yang felt her heart drop at the illusions but she clenched her fist and threw herself at the imitations of her sister, taking solace in the fact that they weren't real, she knew her sister or at least she thought she did. Did it really take Ruby drinking that tea for her to realize, she hadn't just risked losing her sister but that she had been losing her for a while, a slow crack between them grew until it became a chasm and she hadn't even noticed that her sister was now out of reach.
Yang was focusing on the fight in front of her, repeating the words in her head. Fight the Cat, Find Ruby.
That train of thought was interrupted however by a blinding flash of silver light from behind her and the remnants of team RWBY, the trio turned around and Yang was forced to shield her eyes with her arm until the light dissipated.
"RUBY!" Shouted Weiss but Yang was torn, she hoped and prayed that Weiss was right, her eyes adjusted to the dissipating light as she took in all the information she could. Cape flowing in the wind, hood up, Rose emblem.
"You're…" She started but paused as the form came clearer, a wide flowing combat skirt, and an axe in hand, her words tumbled out the rest of her sentence at the same time as her brain pieced it all together. "You're… Mum?"
"How?" Added Blake and Yang could hear the tremor in her partner's voice, distraught at what she saw.
The Cat chuckled, each laugh acting like a hammer onto Yang's heart. "How Purrfect!"
The Cat lunged at Summer who held a sad, solemn expression, seemingly holding Sundered Rose limply in her hand. A shot rang out as just when the Cat was within reach Summer pulled the trigger on her weapon, bringing it up and in front of her catching the Cat on the chin and flipping them onto their back. Using the momentum she had, Summer brought her axe above her head and fired again bringing the weapon down but the Cat recovered fast enough and avoided the attack.
Taking a deep breath the Cat lets loose another beam of energy directed towards Summer who is forced to hold Sundered Rose in front of her, splitting the beam in two on either side of her with the blade, Weiss recovered first from the reverie of not seeing Ruby appear from the tree and summoned some ice Dust at the Cat's feet.
"Ribbon." Ordered Summer and Blake responded on instinct throwing one end towards her and held tightly onto the other end as Summer caught the other with her right hand, Yang was surprised with how easy it seemingly was for Blake to throw Summer as her mother didn't use anything to aide her momentum. The Cat prepared as second energy beam but was stopped by Summer approaching and bringing her axe down and slamming it onto the Cat's head, when Summer made contact a burst of smoke exploded out from the Cat's mouth as its attack was cut short, Yang couldn't see anything and she was certain neither could Blake and Weiss.
When the smoke cleared Summer Rose stood above the Cat who struggled to move, they managed a few weak small steps backwards before Summer stood on their tail preventing them from getting any further.
"You're broken! You break everything you touch! I call Humans… Weak-" Their rant was interrupted by Summer swinging her axe down beside their head earning a small pitiful yelp.
"And you tried to take advantage of a struggling teenage girl, you're the weak one…" Summer let her foot of the Cat's tail before kicking them away and they landed just in front of a weakened Neo. Summer glared and the girl and opened her mouth to speak but was stopped by a blade pressed against her back.
Yang moved to ask Weiss what she was doing but the ex-heiress spoke first.
"Bring her BACK!"
Her voice strained as Yang could see tears falling freely from the girl's eyes.
Summer's shoulders slumped slightly as she let out a fed-up sigh before turning around and looking down at the blade now pressed against her stomach.
"Why?"
"Mum?" Yang asked or rather didn't ask, she had too many questions and couldn't decide on one.
"Mum?.." Repeated Blake. "Surely you want your daughter back?"
Summer laughed darkly, dropping Sundered Rose, the trio winced at the heavy thud the weapon made as Summer turned her head back over to Neo.
"The Cat is all yours, the least you can do after how you treated my daughter."
Neo nodded fearfully but quickly took some glee in summoning some Jabberwalkers and made quick work of the Cat. The rest of team RWBY took a step back in fear before Neo tipped her hat and took a step back off the side of the platform.
"You're nothing like Ruby!"
Weiss said accusingly and Summer pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.
"You expect me to be nice to the creature that manipulated my daughter… although I understand you three are also partially to blame, you made my daughter carry her burdens alone…" Summer's eyes moved from Weiss to Blake and then landed on Yang. "I thought I raised you better than that."
"I never asked her to shoulder it all." Countered Yang but Summer just brushed her off with a dismissive wave.
"No, instead you just expected her to, never lightening the load always asking her to lead and never taking responsibility… you're just like your mother."
Yang felt her heart stop for a moment, she could sense the colour drain from her face at Summer's harshness, Blake moved in between the two as Weiss pressed her weapon harder against Summer but the older woman paid it no mind.
Blake came to Yang's defence.
"How could you say that to your own daughter?"
Summer turned her head towards the tree looking longingly until she turned back and looked straight at Blake.
"She lost my daughter, you all did…" Summer took a step back from Weiss removed the weapon from her stomach.
She gestured first to Blake.
"A friend too busy running from her problems to help her with her own."
She looked to Weiss.
"A partner too busy trying to atone for the sins of the father."
Summer brought her hands up almost as if offering a hug to Yang but the stern expression made Yang feel a sense of foreboding.
"A sister who right when she is needed most, shuts down, who undermines and critique her own sister's leadership… Quite the team Ozpin made."
"Shut up!" Shouted Weiss and Summer merely raised and eyebrow at the sudden outburst, bringing her right hand up she brought her thumb and middle finger together.
"This has been lovely but me and my daughter need to chat… alone."
Summer clicked her finger and thumb and a rush of wind rushed from behind her, forcing Yang to close her eyes, when it dissipated she opened them and found herself alone with Summer, Blake and Weiss were gone.
"What have you done?" She asked afraid.
"Don't you get it yet?.. This is a family affair." Taunted Summer.
"They are family."
"Maybe to you but not to me."
Yang raised her fists up defensively and Summer just sighed unfazed by the threat, she turned around and gestured to the Tree.
"Is this really so bad?"
"What?" The confusion in Yang's voice was evident, unable to figure out what Summer was asking.
"You've lost your sister, is it really so bad she wanted to fall back into the arms of her mother?"
"I haven't lost Ruby-"
"THEN WHERE IS SHE?"
Yang was cut off by Summer shouting, her mother took a breath to compose herself before continuing.
"If you haven't lost her then tell me where she is… Well…"
"I-"
Yang froze, she realized that if it wasn't Ruby that came out of that tree then she didn't know where her sister was, Summer gave her a knowing glance as she witnessed the colour drain from Yang's face.
"You don't know because you all kept piling burden after burden onto my daughter's shoulders, it's really no wonder she fell through the ground with all that weight on her back."
Summer knelt down in front of Yang, bringing her hand up to her own heart.
"I know where Ruby is, she's in her."
Yang shook her head.
"I'm not giving up on my sister."
Yang's voice quivered as she struggled to keep a hold on her emotions but Summer responded with a small smile, recognising the determination in her older daughter's voice.
"I'm glad but what about me?" Asked Summer and Yang felt her brow scrunch in confusions.
"You?"
"You'd have a mother again, is that so bad?"
Yang shook her head.
"Nothing is worth losing Ruby, please I'll do anything?"
Summer moved the hand that was over her heart and rested it on Yang's shoulder.
"Somethings in life are decided by us without realizing and what if this is one of them? You say you'll do anything now but all the influence you could have had has already happened."
Yang lunged at Summer throwing her arms around her mother, she pulled herself tight seeking that familiar warm embrace, she pleaded as she did.
"Please let me keep being a big sister."
"You have no idea just how proud I am of you, I love you both, just the way you are."
Yang felt the embrace shift slightly as if the body she was holding changed. She heard someone sniffling over her own attempts to hold back her tears and cracked open her eyes slowly and pulled the body she was holding back to take in change that had occurred. she came upon that familiar face that she so desperately desired, her sister Ruby, crying just as much as she was.
Yang pulled her back into a deep hug and she found herself laughing in relief, Ruby responded by pulling her closer and Yang tried her best to reciprocate.
"Thank you." Whispered Ruby. "For not giving up on me when I did."
Yang ran her hand through Ruby's hair gently.
"I'm sorry for making you think for a second that I wasn't there for you."
"Just remember Yang… to tell me when you see the real me."
Yang's arms suddenly lost their hold and they wrapped around herself as the body she was holding disappeared, Yang looked around her as she remained sat on her knees, spinning her head around."
"Ruby?" She asked scared that she had lost her sister again.
"Ruby?"
Yang blinked and was met with darkness. Gravity shifted and she realised that she was lying down, shooting up her head almost hit the bottom of the bunk bed above her, Just a dream, she thought and her racing heart slowed slightly but until she found Ruby she knew she couldn't rest, her eyes landed upon the top bunk on the other side of the room and her heart tightened as it was easy to tell that Ruby wasn't there.
As if sensing her concern a voice spoke softly beside her.
"Look down."
Following what she recognised as a sleepy Blake's voice, she looked at the bunk underneath and saw that Weiss was holding onto her sister tight.
She wondered how long the two had been like that and Blake spoke as if sensing Yang's question.
"Weiss had a bad dream." She whispered. "Do you want to talk about yours?"
Yang felt a soft hand rest atop of own as another pulled her closer as Blake shifted to sit beside her.
Yang spoke quietly as well seeking to avoid waking the other two.
"I was back in the Ever After, waiting for Ruby to come out of the Tree."
"Was it bad?"
"Yea but I also think it was what I needed to hear."