September III

When Summer Rose first met Raven Branwen, she let her down.

Summer let Raven down, that was. Raven would have many mishaps over the years, mostly those related to her adjusting to life as a former bandit now living in civilized society, but never once did she truly fail Summer. Summer, on the other hand, screwed it up the first moment she spent in her future teammate's presence.

They'd arrived at Beacon, and Raven was still a full-blown bull of a child back then. She was a Branwen bandit, though no one but her and Qrow knew it, and she subscribed to their twisted ideologies that nothing in this world – not friendship, not respect, not decency, not even life – could be secured without first being earned. Not a single manner was known between either twin.

Initiation was the next day, and Headmistress Hortense Clydesdale had advised all of the prospective Beaconites to get a good night's rest. Summer took it to heart and did her best to catch a few Z's in the sleeping bag her mother had given her, one embroidered with a cute little rose on the front. Not everyone had last names that could be symbolically represented, and not everyone had parents willing to go the extra mile for their darling children.

But Summer Rose was not 'everyone.' She was a very special 'anyone,' and she knew from the get-go that she was going places. The coveted title of Team Leader was almost destined to be hers, as the eldest daughter of the Rose family line. The only challenge might be if Tai ended up on the same team as her – he also came from a well-bred family – but Summer doubted it would come to that. And if it did, it was common knowledge that Taiyang's family wasn't supportive of his career choice, unlike Summer's who were.

If all he has compared to me is his last name, mine will emerge superior. Headmistress Clydesdale would never risk offending the Xiao-Longs and the Roses in one fell swoop by promoting him over me.

Raven and her loudmouth brother had little to do with the thoughts of a juvenile Summer Rose as she tried to fade off into sleep, aside from the fact that they were running their mouths halfway across the hall. Both of them were arguing with one another about who would…Summer couldn't even remember the conflict. Maybe it was killing more Grimm, or maybe it was doing better on the test, but it could have been who was taller for all Summer cared. The only thing that she knew was that these two inbred ruffians were keeping her awake – and on the night before her big day, no less!

Summer Rose knew she would have to be the one to deal with these two lowlifes, as it was unbefitting of a future Team Leader to defer such a critical task to others. Thus, she'd done the reasonable thing and a̶s̶k̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶m̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶p̶o̶l̶i̶t̶e̶l̶y̶ ̶q̶u̶i̶e̶t̶ ̶d̶o̶w̶n g̶o̶t̶t̶e̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶t̶e̶a̶c̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶h̶a̶n̶d̶l̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶d̶i̶s̶r̶u̶p̶t̶i̶o̶n dragged them both by the ear to a secluded corner of the room and knocked them unconscious with her bare hands.

Yeah. It sounded stupid to her too, at least in hindsight, but at the time, Summer had thought it reasonable. The Branwen twins had thought they were hot stuff, but five years at primary combat school meant a heckuva lot more than Branwen banditry. They were lower than her (she assumed them poor or orphans at the time), and they were disrupting her sleep, so she shut them up forcibly. They didn't even have a chance to protest or explain themselves – her aura had been in her control for years, and they were just barely adjusting to their own.

Summer got her sleep, and Raven and Qrow – well, they also spent time asleep, so she justified it as mutually beneficial. A future leader had to help her future team, of course.

When Summer Rose joined the same team as Raven Branwen, she let her down.

She and Taiyang had both slain the captive Sabyrs, meaning they were partnered, but Summer didn't mind it. He was a good enough boy, known to her through associations, and his spirit was admirable. Tai was the kind of man to want to be in the action, and it would take wild Nuckelavees to drag him out of a fight once he'd gotten into it (truly a telling sign Summer should have noticed when he settled down with Raven, but that came much later in the story).

The problem arose for Rose when they progressed to the second round. The first was the weed-out course, and Summer promised herself that she would be fine with whatever comrades fell her way. After all, if they passed round one, they had to be good enough for her standards, right?

Half-Team ST's prey ended up being none other than the mighty Sphinx, a brutish beast that lifted off the ground with its wings. Summer ordered Taiyang to target it, knowing that the gift of flight would discourage their fellow hunters-in-training from trying for it. That meant less competition against the others (a tactical conservation of strength) as well as being paired up with only the strongest, bravest, most daring fellowship.

To her dismay, it was the siblings from last night, the rough twins who boasted and bragged like they were something special (they were not).

This time, she didn't beat them up. Instead, she appealed to Headmistress Clydesdale to get the teams shifted around. A Rose (and a Xiao-Long) didn't deserve to be saddled with riff-raff, right?

It was right, and Clydesdale agreed. They were good kids, children of great parents, so she pulled a few strings to switch up the teams. Technically the rules were violated, but Summer didn't doubt that the duo of disaster had broken some rule by even being in Vale, let alone Beacon (she was right, technically, but she later shed that mindset and grew to despise it by the time she learned of the Branwen's banditry).

Sadly for Summer, the team that Qrow and Raven ended up on had another student of minor repute, but they also had the ear of an important individual in the media industry. A scathing rebuke was publish in one newspaper, and that led others to look into it. The Headmistress took the blame, to avoid the loss of important donors to her school, and her time at Beacon ended within three years, at which point she voluntarily resigned.

That was how Team Stark was born. Raven and Qrow were perpetual reminders not only of the fact that Summer Rose did not always get whatever she wanted, but also that she did not always deserve it.

When Summer Rose said goodbye to her teammate Raven Branwen, she let her down.

It was long after she'd shed her elitist mindset, having seen both Branwens in action enough to understand that 'breeding' meant nothing in battle. They'd saved her lives fewer times than she'd saved theirs, but the fact that she'd needed them to protect her from lowly Grimm more than once was proof to Summer that she wasn't the perfect, silver goddess she'd believed herself to be. Nothing shattered a deluded youth's illusions of grandeur better than the truth.

Time had made Team Stark inseparable. They'd learned how to be hunters together. They'd ran their first mission together. They'd uncovered damning secrets about one another together. They'd forgiven one another for harsh words said in the heat of the moment together.

And when they graduated together, Summer thought they would never be apart again.

Summer Rose lived, breath, and bled Team Stark for five years, until it all came crashing down around her after less than a full year as real, licensed huntresses and hunters. Raven had just…just…decided to kill the team! She was saying goodbye, without ever having mentioned a word of her desire to quit to anyone. Summer would have talked her out of it if she had – that much was assured – but Raven never even gave her the chance.

To make things worse, she'd dragged Taiyang along with her. Maybe the loss of one could be accounted for, but both members of Team Stark lost their partners. Summer loved Qrow like family, but the idea of them going up against Salem together with nothing but each other was inconceivable.

Oz split them up, almost without hesitation, and began looking into other options. Glynda was being considered for Vale, and James and Leo had already been brought into the know in Atlas, though Summer didn't expect those folks to work with her a lot. After the failure of Ozpin's investment in the team-centric architecture he'd tried to implement amongst the Starks, he was moving more towards individual agents – easily trained, self-reliant, and disposable in the grand scheme of things (if necessary). Ozpin wasn't a bad man or anything; he just knew that his agents could die (or perhaps fall out) at any point in time, so the idea of basing their combat strategies or tactical abilities around teamwork was no longer of interest to the warlock.

To make it brief, everything changed that day, for everyone.

Summer felt like she could have done more. She still felt that way. A part of Summer had died with Team Stark, and there would also be that little bit or worry that if she'd tried a little bit harder, been a touch better leader, the four of them might not have felt the need to split up.

When Summer Rose reunited with Raven Branwen's husband, she let her down.

Initially, Taiyang's return was a celebration. Their missing man was back in action, and perhaps it would only be a matter of time before Raven followed suit. Summer had thrown a big back-together party, and she'd even bought some drinks pre-emptively for the next one when all four of them were hand-in-hand once more. Taiyang had danced with his leader and their teammate, he'd drank with them, he'd arm-wrestled with them and roughhoused with them and sang karaoke with them and got utterly ruined for the next day of hunting. It was one of Summer's best nights of partying.

Then she learned how Tai had left.

Summer had let Raven down.

So, when Raven called her just a day shy of two weeks later, Summer had dropped everything to not let her teammate down. Raven had never, ever sounded weak at all before, and now she was sounding on the verge of falling to pieces. The abrupt change told Summer everything she needed to know about where her own priorities ought to lie.

Several active missions were shoved onto Qrow's overloaded plate via text, but Summer figured Taiyang could offset the difference now that he was…ohhhh, that man!

Unlike the Branwens, Summer couldn't just fly between landmasses in Sanus, so she had to charter a ferry trip from Vale to Patch. She paid a lot more than she really needed to to get a redeye trip, but Raven needed her now. That much was apparent. She'd been crying about Yang getting hurt, the pair of them having no food, irrational fears over losing her daughter – Summer might've thought it an overdramatized prank or ploy for sympathy if it were anyone but strait-laced Raven.

Why on Remnant did I never visit? Why didn't I offer help when I knew she needed it? Taiyang was here, and Raven was there, so…arggggh, I should have known!

She should have, but Summer wasn't going to ignore a direct summon from her former teammate of five years. Everything else could wait.

Summer knew. She just knew, somehow, that this was her last chance. If she couldn't be there for Raven now, when she needed her for this, the most important 'mission' of either of their lives, it would be over for them. That would be the true death of Team Stark, not any falling outs or faux pas or departures to Patch to elope.

I'll be there for her however she needs it, Summer vowed as she hopped off the ferryboat. This will be a great chance to show Raven just how much she means to me, as a teammate and as a friend. She came to me; she chose me for help. All of my old mistakes will be forgotten, and I can be the savior she needs in these tough times.

Raven had given her direction to 'her' log cabin (Tai had made it clear he was happy to leave it in Ray's hands). Summer wasn't accustomed to the landscape of Patch, but she knew how to read from a map well enough to get there just around the break of dawn the morning after Raven had desperately called for Summer's aid, with no other lifeline to turn to.

I hope she's well-rested. If she is, then we can work together on getting the household in order. She can tell me exactly what she does or doesn't have under control, and I can work on getting it fixed. If I need to buy food or supplies, baby-proof sharp corners of furniture, or teach Ray how to change a nappy, I'm sure it will be simple.

And if she was tired (the more realistic option, given the fact that Raven was living with a week-old babe), Summer would wow her partner with her own semi-decent parenting skills. She'd kept a keen eye on her parents raising her sisters, and she was fairly certain that Yang wouldn't be that much more difficult. Either way, Summer was bound to mend her faulty relationship with Raven.

She knocked thrice on the door, then called out her teammate's name. Summer doubted the Xiao…she doubted the Branwen household got much company this far out in the woods, other than what might've been an occasional Beowolf coming to skewer itself on Omen (baby or not, Raven was almost invincible with the blade). Still, it was only polite to announce her presence.

"Raven?" she repeated. "It's Summer! Can I come in?"

A familiar voice answered from inside, one Summer had gone far too long without hearing. "Yang, can you get the…oh, never mind. There's a key under the welcome mat, Summer."

Lifting up said mat, Summer looked for two seconds. "I…I don't see it."

"Oh. Try the plant?"

"What plant?" Summer asked. There were simultaneously too many and too few; not a single potted plant was anywhere in sight, but the forest was full of wild foliage that nearly crept up to the doorstop.

I should've brought a lawnmower. Hopefully Raven has shears.

It was just one more way to help out her teammate, and Summer was happy to assist with any gardening if needed. She'd made a promise to not leave until Raven asked her to, as nothing – nothing – was more important than this. If it took the entire day to set them straight, so be it. Hell, Summer would gratefully abandon her duties to Ozpin and Qrow for the full week if it came to that. Disapproval from the boss over a few missed missions paled in comparison to the unadulterated contempt Summer would loathe herself with if she let Raven down again…and Yang.

I've mostly been thinking about the mother, but the baby matters too, if not more. Yang is practically my niece, given how close I am to both her mother, her father, and her uncle. I'm the only Stark not related to her by blood, but maybe a close bond can replace that. I have a duty to see to her safety and health.

"There's a key somewhere, Sum. Just keep looking."

"Can you –"

"Can't. My hands are a bit occupied right now."

That tracked. If baby Yang was being fussy or was in need of feeding, Raven wouldn't be able to just drop her to get the door. Summer resolved to handle this door situation by herself.

Leaning forward to check if maybe it was on the floor, she placed on hand on the door for support and nearly fell over when no support was found.

"Oh," said Raven, covered in orange dust. "I guess I left it unlocked."

It was their first impression of one another after nigh a year of separation, and Summer had gone and blown it by tripping right through the open door. Instead of appearing in front of Raven as the proud leader on whom she could depend in this time of dire need, Summer was a tumbling mess, sprawled out on the floorboards and empty shoes.

However, her own weak first impression paled in comparison to Raven's professionally horrendous one.

The elder-by-three-seconds Branwen twin was kneeling on the floor, surrounded by planks of wood. Her fingers gripped a handsaw in place of her daughter, and she was aggressively cutting the wood with such poor rhythm that each stroke seemed to be a conscious effort.

The baby girl who should have been with her mother was sitting upright in a circular donut of dark red, blue, and green blankets that had been bunched up around her. Summer was better at reading babies than most, but even she could barely decipher the vague look of confusion or bewilderment on the child's face. A small pile of sawdust was bunched up atop her head, and the brownish powder covered most of her body. Raven was absolutely coated in the stuff.

"There you are, Summer! Oh, am I glad you're here! Okay, so I think the biggest problem I have right now is that I have nowhere to put my Yangling, so I'm trying to build something for that."

"A…A crib?" Summer asked, knowing that specific words occasionally escaped Raven's mindful grasp.

Yang sneezed, dispersing a cloud of sawdust into the atmosphere.

"Crib? This cabin is the crib, I guess. But I'm thinking more of a tiny baby bed." Raven stopped sawing the wood for a moment, placed a filthy hand onto her daughter's scalp (not the one holding the serrated blade, thankfully), and tussled her nonexistent hair. Yang fell backwards in response, but the blankets softened her fall, and she sneezed out a puff of sawdust once more. "Cute little thing, isn't she? But make no mistake, this one's a handful."

Okay. So…maybe I might be here for longer than a week.