AN: warning this chapter has some bullying and emotional distress.

If that triggers anyone, you have been warned.

Ch 25: Snow Doves And Smothered Flames

By the winter break, Indi had gotten much better at hand to hand, able to leave sparring matches with Yang at least standing and conscious. Spadix and Sterling assisted her in some upgrades to the pistols, helping up the caliber for more power while maintaining the weight ratio for her arms. Sterling was no longer rushing head first into combat and his combos with Jin were actually much more in tune now, becoming the ranged edge to her combat that she lacked.

Spadix and Yang were close to convincing the toothy leader to add some fire power to her own weapons but the break hit and Jin inevitably rejected the idea, though she was considering adding something sharp to them to allow move power with less recoil. The owl had more days with a happier mood, having less strain on her mental energy with less fights amongst the team. The team themselves seemed closer, spending more time together as a whole during training and even opting to study together a few times, though usually ending with Jin having a headache.

As everyone packed to head out, Jin sat with Spadix, "I'll message you. You sure you're fine here?"

Spadix nodded and raised the book Jin had gifted her, "I'm at a really good part and I just want to read. It's just a week, I'll be fine."

Jin chuckled and nodded, kissing her cheek, "Alright. Remember the Vytal Festival is only a few weeks after we get back. And we still need to put time into training together."

Spadix shoved her gently, "Well if you would stop trying to feel me up every time we get there we would've been doing that already."

Jin laughed and stood, grabbing her bag as her Mother honked the horn outside, "Ok yea that's fair. But if you didn't storm off every time you might see I was just being playful."

The owl's eyes rolled as she reached her foot out and gently kicked Jin's rear towards the door, "just go will you before she comes up here after you."

A wave and Jin was gone, the others having left already. Spadix was getting comfortable to read. In truth, she was a bit sad now that she had a found family to be alone for such a family based holiday but she didn't know what it was like to be with any for it so she would manage. She looked over at the small pile of three gifts on the desk with a note warning not to open till Christmas that they had all left her and smiled happily. She had slipped her gifts for them into their bags on their way out.

—-

After the weekend of the break, Jin and her family were arriving at the Rose household. Generally, they spent the holidays here back when things were good. Now that it was again, they were returning to those ways, the house being more accommodating than their own for everyone. There was a young woman outside on her scroll. Jin rolled her eyes, "Oh no…"

As the family got out and Yang grabbed luggage, Autumn, now 9, came running to meet up with Azure who had recently turned 10 back in November, the twins would be 12 in January and were already at the point of deciding on weapons to start training before starting at Signal in a year or so, and Leo was going to be 4, with a spring birthday like Jin. Yang called Jin to help with bags. Jin grabbed some of the luggage with Yang and helped get things inside with Tai also carrying things. Jin being in the rear of the trail of blondes with bags.

As she came up the steps, the red eye of the young woman followed her, "Didn't think I'd be seeing you today, fire breath."

Jin bit her tongue to hold it. Dove Branwen and Jin were never friends. As children, Dove often bullied Jin around. She never understood why Dove didn't like her so much but she knew better than to anger Yang on this trip. She even figured this might be a good practice to work on taming her anger, "Yea well glad to see you are well Dove. Excuse me, this stuff is heavy."

She heard the young woman scoff as she walked inside, following Weiss' directions. Azure and the twins were staying in Autumn's room. Blake and Yang had a guest room with Leo. Raven and Qrow were in the pool house out back. Winter and Tai were each in their own rooms, the study and library were both being converted for them. Ruby was already back in a room with Weiss lately. That left Jin with Sterling and Dove. 'Fuck.' Willow, Klien and Whitley weren't able to make it this year but would be calling in from Vacuo.

Jin dropped off the young Xiao Long bags, Autumn leading the kids in to help get everyone settled for the week. Yang and Tai dropped off the rest. Jin slumped her shoulders as she walked to Sterling's room to drop off her bag. Sterling was sitting at his desk.

"Ughhhhhh" Jin groaned, flopping down into the padded futon made up for her.

He frowned, "What?"

She pointed at the bed that Dove had already been staying in all weekend and he nodded, "Ah, that. Yea I tried to get arrangements so she was with Aunt Winter but the study is pretty small so, Mom wouldn't have it. Sorry."

Jin weakly whined into the pillow. She handed over her bag, "Can you put this somewhere safe please?"

He rolled his eyes, taking it and hiding it under his things in his closet, "You still think she's going to put a baby deathstalker in it? She hasn't done that since you were like… 5."

Jin growled and shot up, glaring at him, "It was scary and it hurt!"

He shrugged, "Fair enough."

Yang called for them from downstairs and they both headed down. "Qrow and Raven will be here soon. Why don't you two help them get settled in out back before Winter sees they are here? Get Uncle Qrow a head start before things get tense in here, yea?" Yang asked quietly.

They nodded and headed out back waiting for the red portal to pop up. "If it's just going to cause chaos, why invite him?" Sterling asked.

Jin shrugged, "He's my family and he's Dove's dad. She loves him and he's a good dad. Why should she have to choose between her parents for Christmas if they can get along enough to both be here for her?"

Sterling sighed, thinking about it, "I guess that makes sense. Still, it would be nice if they could just get along already so we can all enjoy Christmas."

Before Jin could agree, the red portal appeared and Raven and Qrow stepped out. Raven gave a faint smile at Jin, "Ah my favorite little brawler! So good to see you."

Jin grinned and hugged Raven. At least with her here, she knew a certain Branwen who wouldn't be able to openly mess with the dragon and get away with it. Qrow ruffled her hair, "Hey there hot head. Where's Dove?"

Jin growled and fixed her hair. Sterling stepped in, "We were asked by Aunt Yang to get you two settled first. Something about wanting to at least get the two of you settled in before Aunt Winter can throw wine at you."

Qrow chuckled and gestured allowing the teens to lead the way. Neither of the older twins were bothered about being in the pool house. In the past, they had not been part of this side of the family events due to Winter's concealed child. Now with all that on the table, no one was really surprised they were being kept at a distance. Yang had tried to say it was about a lack of space in the house but both of them knew better. Luckily, they were ok with the space they got from all the noise and chaos.

After getting unpacked, Raven came over to Jin on the back porch that overlooked the pool, "You seem troubled little fighter, what's wrong?"

Jin growled and shrugged, "Dove is just always such a bitch and I don't like how she bullies me. There's not much I can do about it though without causing a bunch of trouble and getting my ass handed to me."

Raven listened then laughed, "Well, once upon a time, I would've said you either become the strongest or you accept your fate. But nowadays, I think the better advice is to stay away from her the best you can and stick with your family. You should be fine. It's only a week and then you can go back to pretending she doesn't exist."

Jin felt the strong hand on her shoulder and nodded. Raven patted her back before nodding back to the main house, "Come on, I want to see my brother confront his own demons. Always exciting."

The two laughed, following Qrow to the main house. In the house, Raven joined her daughter and Blake, kneeling to see Leo. It wasn't lost on anyone the woman tried with her grandchildren a bit harder to make up for things she regretted but Yang didn't really mind. She was cautious but she didn't mind. And Raven still wasn't great at it or perfect by any means but trying was better than nothing.

The older kids were all playing card games in the den with Tai, betting with cookies. Winter was in the kitchen with Ruby and Weiss helping make food for the massive head count. Sterling had found a place in the dining area with a book, catching Jin's attention with a cup of coffee held out to her. Qrow was out front with Dove, catching up on how she was doing at Haven and discussing scythes together.

Jin rushed over, graciously taking the coffee and joining him in the otherwise empty space, "So loud…"

He chuckled a bit, "You sound like Spadix."

She shrugged, "Look, there are 2 teenagers, 1 toddler, 4 kids, 8 parents and a she-devil here. That's a lot of people in one house."

He turned the page and rolled his eyes, "Just drink the coffee and shut up for a bit. You'll feel better. Besides, no one will be in here until dinner is ready."

She stuck her tongue out at him before drinking it, relaxing into the table. In truth, the noise wasn't that bad for her. It probably was worse for Sterling who was only used to his parents' occasional past spats and Autumn's happiness which couldn't be much of anything in a house this size. Jin was just on edge knowing her nightmare human was walking around the property.

While Dove Branwen was generally a nice enough person to most people, she had always had it out for Jin. From baby grim planted in Jin's things as children to shoves on playgrounds and beating up on the little faunus. Following into teasing at Signal Academy that often was subtle but vial. It was a touchy subject to talk to her parents about. Blake was always an overprotective panther about it but Yang got a bit weird over it. Like there was something she couldn't say to Jin about the mess that explained it all and made things messy. In hindsight, it was probably what eventually drove Yang and Jin apart in her childhood. The saving grace was when Dove graduated Signal and went to Haven. Jin was so relieved that Dove had no intentions of going to Beacon.

She swirled the last of her coffee, watching it twirl, "Hey Sterling… Why do you think she hates me so much?"

It was quiet for a while, resting his head in his hand as he continued to read, "You got to spend your entire life with her dad around. You knew him and she only knew his name. He was around for every birthday you had, every holiday. He was there when you were born. He was one of the first few people your parents told when you were conceived while he didn't even know she existed. Why wouldn't she hate you?"

Jin closed her eyes. None of that was her fault. None of it was even her parents' fault. It was all Winter's fault really. But that didn't stop it from being true. She tried to imagine herself in Dove's shoes. How would she feel if all her life Yang had just been a name she knew while Dove got all her mother's attention. She wasn't really able to relate, but she could see how it could be frustrating. She wondered if Dove was a sad kid growing up. Was it easier to hurt Jin then try to talk to her mom about it, if she even understood the reason she felt that way at that age to begin with? It made sense why Yang would be weird about it and Blake wouldn't since Blake had no real attachments to Qrow.

Sterling lightly slapped her head, "Don't think about it too hard. You can't fix it. Just deal with it and let it go. She's never going to like you. Just survive the week and forget I said anything. Don't do that thing you do where you butt in. She'll just hurt you."

Jin groaned and drank the rest of the coffee, "You aren't fair Sterling…"

He shrugged, "you asked."

She huffed, the rest of the time they sat there was quiet. Jin did not realize she had drifted off until Ruby was nudging her, "Hey, do you two mind helping us put some food out?"

The cousins stood and helped set out plates and dishes, setting up for 16 people, one spot with a booster seat for Leo between two chairs meant for Yang and Blake. Weiss and Ruby went through, setting name plates down to help keep everything civil at least for this first night. Jin noticed the two had their rings on again and smiled. At least some broken homes could be rebuilt.

The table placements were the following: From one end was Tai and going to his left would be Yang, Leo, Blake, Azure, Bao, Mao, Autumn. Weiss at the other end, to her left Ruby, Winter, Dove, Sterling, Jin, Raven, Qrow.

The placements were well planned out and kept the right hostile people apart from each other's view, making Weiss quite proud of herself. Winter helped the cousins get a little of everything on each plate before the dinner call was yelled out to everyone by Ruby. While waiting, Winter looked at Jin's miserable face and tried to be kind, "I'm sorry."

Jin just shrugged, not wanting to cause a scene as the kids came running in, Blake followed them and she and Weiss were instructing them to the game of hunting for their seats. Yang came in with Leo and settled him into his booster. The crowd was alive at the table as the families came to life with food and chatter. Jin just tried to eat and get through it. Sterling also was fairly quiet but then he usually was, putting in the effort at least with his family and sister. Between helping Yang with Leo and talking with the family, Blake caught sight of Jin here and there.

As food was winding down and the families were lost in conversations and stories and laughter, Jin slowly left, muttering about being tired. Blake, who was resting her chin on the back of her hands and listening halfway to Yang telling a harty story to her uncle and father about shenanigans in her classroom, lightly grazed Yang and Set Leo into her arms, following Jin. Yang nodded and continued.

Blake found Jin outside in the cool winter air, snow starting to cover the ground, "You know hypothermia can't be how you want to spend your holidays."

The dragon didn't look at her, "I didn't do it to her on purpose. I didn't even know."

Blake tilted her head a bit confused and walked over, pulling her coat on herself tighter, "Didn't know what? What didn't you do? What are you talking about Jin?"

Jin kicked a bit of snow, "I didn't know Uncle Qrow was even her dad. I was just a kid too. It wasn't my fault he was around. How was I supposed to know he was her dad?! How was I supposed to know she didn't know her dad!?"

It only took seconds for Blake to put the pieces together. Her ears folded and she frowned, "Jin. Did Dove do something to you again?"

Jin growled and kicked snow hard, "She insulted me when I was bringing bags in and Mother and Grandpa Tai didn't say anything! They didn't do anything! I don't understand why I have to be the one she's so damn mad at! I didn't ask for any of this!"

Blake watched Jin as her daughter stomped and tossed through the snow with her feet. She had no intentions of stopping her. She was right to be angry. Blake was angry. She had never liked how Dove treated her child, and she had hated how Yang had always talked her down from doing anything about it. Jin had tossed around so much snow a patch of grass was exposed and beginning to turn to rutted mud under her angry feet. Blake finally spoke, "Do you remember when you were 6 years old and we spent a weekend at my parents' house?"

Jin turned to her, cold tears stinging on her hot cheeks, "Sort of. I remember Nonn and Granpaw were kind and took me to the water."

Blake walked over, "I took you there because I was so angry with your Mother after Dove covered you in that sap and you got stung all over by those rapier wasps. I had just gotten confirmation I was pregnant again and we hadn't told anyone yet. And your mother wouldn't let me do anything about what happened to you. She was really torn between her family and I could tell she was struggling on what to do but I was furious. If she wasn't going to help me protect you then I was going to take you somewhere safe. And I did."

Jin stared at Blake, jaw slack in shock, "You… left Mother?"

Blake tucked hair behind her ear, "Not really no. Deep down I knew I would go back, but at the time I intended to. I needed my daughter safe. And that heathen child was going too far. I just needed to take you somewhere where I knew the people around me were going to support me protecting you. You were finally healthy and I was not going to let anything else happen to you anymore. I think I just wanted Yang to realize I could leave if she didn't get her act together and realize what was important. While we were there, I confided in my parents. They were more than happy to help look after you. Jin, they loved you so much."

Jin nodded. Blake's parents had passed away in an accident while Blake was pregnant with Azure before she had gotten the chance to tell them the news. Jin didn't remember them much anymore, they had lived so far and she didn't get to see them much. She only remembered bits and pieces and knew her mom missed them terribly and wished they could've met all her children. She stared at the grass and mud, "What happened?"

Blake hugged herself, cold in the snow, "I ended up telling them about the baby, well babies I found out later, even though we wanted to tell them together. At that point, I needed support and didn't know what was going to happen. They were such wonderful people and were there for us every step of it all. My father got your stings taken care of and kept you happy, playing with you and taking you all over the island where I was born and raised to all the places he took me as a little girl. He was so gentle with you."

Blake stroked Jin's hair and continued, "My mother stayed with me mostly, making sure I was ok. It was hard just walking away from your Mother like that. I'd never done that before. And getting to the island is a really long trip especially with an injured little girl. I told them about the situation and they gave me guidance. It wasn't my place to tell Qrow. And it wasn't Yang's place to tell him either. They helped me better understand the place your mother felt stuck in. They didn't forgive her actions or think that she was doing the right thing but it helped. Your mother chased me all the way to Menagerie. She begged me to come home. You should have seen my father put fear into your mother."

The two shared a laugh, "I would pay to see anyone other than you scare Mother."

Blake sighed, "Well believe it. My father could scare your mother senseless. He was very protective when he wanted to be of his only child. He sat her down, set her straight. I know Dove never let up on you, but I know when we got back, Yang called Winter and that woman got an earful of your mother's fire. I know you at least stopped coming home attacked by Grimm."

Jin settled, slowly plopping down into the snow and hugging her knees. Blake knelt down, refusing to sit in the cold ground, "It was never fair for you Jin. I'm sorry. If you want, you can blame your mother and I. I'm ok with carrying that burden for you. The truth is, Winter made a choice she wasn't proud of with someone she didn't have any real feelings for and ended up with a child. She made a mistake not telling Qrow. She had her reasons. I'm sure she thought she was doing the right thing. She wasn't trying to get anyone hurt. But there's nothing anyone can do about those mistakes now. Dove might always resent you, who knows. Best I can do for you is offer to let you unload the burden on me and if you need you can stick by me this week to keep her from hurting you."

Jin leaned back on her hands, the cool snow relieving the hot blood in her body. She nodded, "I'm not going to blame you mom. It's not you or Mother's fault. But thanks."

She stood up and dusted the snow off herself. Blake stood, "Let's go inside then. I'm freezing."

When they got back inside, the adults were helping clear the table and put away the leftover food so the kids had things to snack on throughout the day tomorrow. Winter and Qrow were arguing, not that anyone was surprised. Yang was near the door, Leo already put to bed, "Hey you two good?"

Blake glanced at Jin then nodded, leaning into the woman for warmth. Jin headed upstairs, Dove waiting in the hall on her scroll, "wow, I didn't think you were still such a baby, Goldi-brat. Still running to mommy are we? Gonna have your hot headed mother tattle on me again are you?"

Jin sighed, "Can I just go to bed, Dove?"

The young woman smirked, "Aw, past your bedtime?"

Jin growled slightly, "what is your problem?"

A wicked smile showed on the young woman, "Mostly just you really. But then, I thought you knew that. Or did that tiny brain of yours fry under all that heat?"

Jin clenched her fist and let out a hot breath stopping herself from throwing a fist. Dove just laughed at her, "You are still such a loser Jin. Your name might mean gold, but you will never be worth anything more than the dirty trash you walk around dressed in."

Jin watched her head to bed, going in after her and angrily laying down in her futon, tucking into her blankets and curling up. She pulled out her scroll, rubbing away her frustrated tears. She stared at her chats with Spadix but couldn't say anything. It wasn't the first time in her life anyone had called her dumb, or implied she was some sort of whore, or hot tempered. It wasn't even the first time Dove had made fun of her close relationship with her mom. But Dove always had a way of wiggling under her skin. That woman had that sharp tongue the Schnees were known for and it cut like glass through fragile skin.

—-

The week went on like this. Every night before bed, Dove would corner Jin and lay into her emotional weaknesses. With each passing night, Dove was carving deeper and deeper into Jin, breaking her further and further down, slowly peeling away at Jin's resolve and self-esteem. As kids it had been easy to even convince Jin she was a dangerous freak or an animal who shouldn't be with other "normal" people. Dove was inching closer and closer to ripping those feeble hidden caverns in Jin's mind back into the light screaming.

When she found out about Jin's girlfriend on Christmas Eve, Dove was ecstatic. It wasn't that Dove had an issue with it, but she knew she could easily hurt Jin with it and so anything was fair game. She was able to steal Sterling's scroll long enough to learn things about the small faunus by nosing through the messages he had with Indi and some photos of the team. Dove knew deep down, Jin had insecurities about being a faunus, especially one with an aggressive temper and such brutal teeth, "Oh this is perfect."

She didn't get as much as she wanted, but she was more than capable of reading between the lines and learning what she needed. That night she caught Jin. The dragon growled, "Dove seriously enough!"

Dove chuckled, "How many times has your girlfriend had to tell you that one before you finally listened to her?"

Jin stopped, "W-what?"

Dove grinned, 'gotcha'. "You heard me. I mean I figured with the way you dressed you were a slut but geez, does your girlfriend even love you or is she stuck in some sort of weird stockholm syndrome because she's scared of you?"

Jin's eyes stared hard at Dove, frozen and unsure, "Where did you…"

Dove smirked, "And a heat cycle? You really are just some animal, aren't you? You would probably fuck anyone if your parents didn't lock you up at home huh? Geez they have to put you in your cage just to keep everyone safe from you! And you want to be a huntress!? Remnant's in trouble once you enter the world, that's for sure."

Jin couldn't move. She was in shock. Dove leaned close, "Don't worry, I'll be sure to protect everyone from you one day, you gross, dirty, monster."

The woman slipped past her into the room and Jin just stood there. Her heart raced so fast it was thundering in her ears angrily. She couldn't breathe. Was this panic? Fear? It wasn't anger was it? No, she knew anger. She slowly backed into the wall opposite the door and slid down to the floor, staring blankly across the hall.

"Am… I a monster?" she whispered to herself. Dove had finally torn her completely with the things that could hurt Jin the most.

She wasn't sure how long she sat there but her scroll went off in her pocket. Glancing down at it, the time past midnight and a message from Spadix read 'Merry Christmas!' followed by a heart.

She stared at it. Her body shook a bit. She found herself in doubt, her mind dizzy and fracturing with the thoughts swelling and overlapping each other. Memories of how often she bites Spadix, growls, wants her physical attention, of how often Spadix shies away or seems hesitant. Suddenly, she could do nothing but believe Dove. It didn't matter the rest of it.

Her mind was filled with a mixture of anxiety, a deep depression, fear and anger all at once. Her constant deep seated fear that she was only ever going to harm and scare those she loved dredged to the surface from where it normally lay dormant and left buried, overwhelming her defeated, battered, worn down soul from days of Dove's abuse.

Behind her, she didn't hear Ruby approaching. The woman noticed her and seemed concerned, "Jin? You ok?"

Jin slowly glanced up, saying nothing. Ruby set down the little cupcake in her hand and held up a hand, "Hang on, I'll go get Blake."

Jin just stared back down at her lap, eyes weary and drooping. Her mind broken and numbness spread throughout her senses. Before Ruby could head to Yang or Blake, Weiss had met her on the stairs. Ruby explained what she'd found and Weiss hushed her, gently sending Ruby to the room with the cupcake to wait and going grab a blanket from the hallway closet. She laid it over the now disassociating dragon. Weiss knelt down looking into Jin's eyes. When she could tell Jin wasn't suffering any sort of physical issues, she gently touched her hand, "Hang tight, I'll be right back."

Weiss met with Ruby at the door, "Let's do this with our son real quick then I'll help you get her carried to her parents."

Ruby nodded. They slipped in and after gently waking Sterling for whispered birthday wishes, they left him the small snack so they could come back out to Jin. Ruby, having remained out in the field so much for so long, was incredibly strong. She lifted the tall faunus in her arms and Weiss helped with watching her head and getting doors.

They got down to the room and knocked. Yang answered it rubbing her eyes, "Yea…what… the hell? Blake!"

The cat faunus woke quickly at the alarm in Yang's voice as Yang took Jin from Ruby. Weiss explained where they found her before Ruby explained how she looked, the two leaving after. Yang set the girl down in the bed between them, Blake gently moving hair from her face, "Yang, she's cold and her heart is racing. Something's wrong."

Yang slid into bed with them, gently warming her and trying to wake her up, "come on kid, wake up, what's going on? You're scaring me."

Blake was worried, shaking Jin's shoulders lightly. Blake could feel panic in her heart like when Jin was a small sick child. Jin's eyes drifted open. She stared at them, taking in rapid breaths and shaking suddenly. Blake pulled her close, trying to calm her, "Jin, it's ok. You have to calm down or you might pass out again."

Jin listened to her mom's soft voice, feeling her heartbeat and Yang gently rubbing her back and she began to slow her breathing, slipping into a familiar calm rooted in her psyche to her sick childhood, softly whimpering as she gripped hold of her mom, crying, "Am… am I some sort of monster?"

Blake's brow furrowed and she stared at Yang who seemed confused. "Kiddo, where is this coming from? Why would you think you are a monster?"

Blake stroked her hair, resting her chin on her daughter's head and gently tried to keep her calm as Jin cried into her chest. Yang sat up, looking at them. Blake looked up at Yang as she continued to comfort her child. The blonde woman rubbed her face, "What a way to wake up. Is she going to be ok?"

Blake just shrugged, Jin still crying and muttering into her, "Why am I like this… I don't want to be an animal… I just want to be normal…"

Blake frowned, gently pulling Jin's face away and staring into her daughter's miserable eyes, "Jin… you are normal. You are every bit the person you are supposed to be."

Jin curled up, burying her face in her hands. Her parents couldn't reach her. Whatever cord had been struck, it was something deep that Jin had buried in herself that had been stewing for longer than they had known. This part of the torment Dove had only latched onto to help stoke when they were children Jin had never shared with her parents. In fact, Jin had hardly ever told anyone she often felt this way and her parents only thought it went only as far as the accident with Bao.

Blake sat up, letting Jin rest as she stroked her hair, watching her eventually cry herself to sleep. Yang left and returned with a cup of tea for each of them, handing one to Blake as she got back in bed on the other side of Jin, gently pulling the blanket up to Jin's chest, "Well, I doubt I'm going back to sleep now."

Blake stared at Jin as she thanked Yang for the cup and took a sip, "I imagine this has something to do with Dove."

Yang frowned, "Not this again, Blake."

Blake glared daggers at her and Yang went quiet instantly, "She has already been messing with your daughter since we got here. Apparently since carrying the bags in and you and Tai didn't do anything about it as a matter of fact."

Yang surrendered, "Whoa I didn't hear that ok or I would have."

Blake looked away from Yang, "Dove knows her weaknesses. She knows how to upset her. And they have been stuck around each other in the same room at night. Ruby and Weiss said they found her right outside the room. I'm betting Dove said something really awful this time. Probably something that Jin is already really sensitive about."

Yang stared at Jin sleeping, "I mean… that all just sounded… a bit crazy right?"

Blake drank more of her tea and shrugged, "A lot of faunus struggle with feeling inhuman or out of place in the world. Your daughter has dragon teeth and does tend to scare people. I wouldn't be surprised if she has always felt that way and just never said anything. She wouldn't be the first faunus I've ever known to say that. Many faunus I knew growing up went as far as butchering themselves to remove their faunus traits to feel better over those thoughts."

Yang reached and ran the back of her fingers over Jin's wet cheek and over to move hair from her face, "that sounds awful."

Blake nodded, still stroking Jin's hair to try to keep her calm, "Well, what are you going to do about it Yang? Dove once again hurt your daughter. This time, she's a 21 year old adult and she knows who her father is. What's going to stop you from protecting Jin now?"

Yang watched Blake carefully then nodded, "In the morning, that little fucking brat is going to get burned. But right now, I need to be here, with you two."

Blake smiled and leaned over, kissing her wife, "Finally, you're getting it."

—-

The sun came up. Yang threw on clothes, eyes the color of burning brimstone as she headed up the stairs. The other adults in the house were up and about working on the large breakfast when they heard Blake and Yang's door slamming. Blake came out as well. She had been waiting over a decade for this. Ruby and Weiss poked their heads out of the kitchen. Upstairs, they could hear a door swing open followed by Dove shouting at Yang as she was dragged out of bed.

Yang had her in a death grip by the back collar of her shirt, yanking her down the stairs and out into the snow, tossing her into the cold. Dove gripped herself, even with her frigid heritage she was freezing in her pajamas. Raven was out front watching with a grin, muttering, "About time she finally kicked her ass."

Winter came around the corner and so did Qrow but Blake glared at them with her arm out, "Oh you two will back off right now. That girl has been asking for this for years."

Yang glared at Dove, red eyes burning, "What the hell did you do to my daughter you bitch!?"

Dove watched the woman, fear leaking into her freezing body as the looming form stepped closer and closer, snow sizzling under each step, "I just told her the truth!"

Wrong answer. Yang reached out, grabbing hold of Dove by her shirt, strong grip lifting her off the ground. Dove squirmed and placed her hand quickly on Yang's arm, a glyph appearing that instantly put out Yang's semblance and made her aura feel weak. Yang stared at it then shrugged and tossed Dove with great strength to the ground, Dove hitting it with a gasp as the wind was knocked out of her lungs, "What did you do to my daughter!?"

Yang lit up again, the glyph gone when Dove hit the ground. Dove backed up, scurrying along the snow quickly, "I told her the truth! She's a beast! She bashes through everything and everyone, always scaring people! She's just like you!"

Yang swung, her fist coming down hard. Dove braced herself. Yang's fist made contact with the ground an inch shy of Dove's face, the heat searing hot and leaving a light burn across Dove's cheek as it passed. Yang's face staring close into Dove's as the young woman moved her arms, "You leave my daughter alone. Or next time, I won't miss."

Dove sat there, breathing heavily as Yang walked back to the house. She smashed her shoulder into Winter as she passed, going back into her room to check on Jin. Blake left the two there, catching up with Yang. Dove was relaxing into the snow, glad to be in one piece. No one could hear what Winter and Qrow were telling her but it was a long, loud, one-sided conversation.

Food and gifts were had. Sterling got a really nice set of dust rounds for his rifle from Indi along with some parts he had been eyeing for his scope. Jin had gotten him a nice detailing set to fix some of the wear and tear on Petal Thorn that had been bothering him, though Yang had handed it to him because Jin had yet to emerge. From Spadix he had gotten a book he had been wanting on more rifle types and their breakdowns and parts. Jin had gotten Indi some gear to help for combat training like wraps for her hands and things like that, Spadix got her a massive expansion chip for her scroll storage space and Sterling got her a kit to help increase its software speed.

Jin's gifts remained unopened, no one wanting to bother her. She was in and out of sleep and refusing to move much, her parents taking care of her in their room. The rest of the day no one saw Jin except her parents. They took turns sitting with her while the other was out with their other children and family enjoying Christmas. Dove for the most part was better behaved and kept to herself, avoiding Yang like the plague.

When it was time to leave, Jin quietly walked to the car, ignoring everyone. Ruby and Weiss shared a worried glance as they watched her. Blake tried to reassure them she could do more once she got her back home. Yang kept Dove away with a death glare that made the woman jump but when they were all in the car, Dove ran over anyway, "Listen hot head, I was a bit harsh with you. Try not to take it too hard yea? I was mostly giving you a hard time."

Jin glanced at her, Dove feeling the gravity of her pained stare boring into her. She backed away, unsure what to even say to that. The family drove away. Raven and Qrow left after their goodbyes. Winter gathered Dove to start heading her back towards Haven.

—-

Back at home, Blake had an easier time getting Jin mostly back to herself. She wasn't very cheerful but she was eating and talking and responding at least. They had at least made it to the end of the week before the weekend but no one could get Jin to say what had happened and Dove hadn't said much further on the matter either as far as anyone knew. With the limited time they had this was a start. Blake looked at Yang, a bit of worry in her voice as she watched Jin push some food around on her plate between bites, "Should… we keep her home for a bit longer? Maybe I can help more?"

Yang held her wife, "I think maybe getting her back to her girlfriend and normal routine will do her a lot more good now."