Dinner Crisis

It has been over a month since the battle in the Spring Vault, and Summer has finally returned to Patch. She would've been home sooner, but she had to stay at Haven to not only manage the fallout of Lionheart trying to take a kid hostage, but then the fallout of Lioheart, in fact, being the mole. It happened while she was investigating his office (after his body was taken away), but she discovered evidence of a Seer Grimm in his office, as well as correspondence implicating him as the one who sent Huntsmen to their deaths for years.

Needless to say, she couldn't really process that, given the current crisis going on in her head, so she simply sent the information to Ozpin (on Lionheart's Scroll). Ozpin's face made it clear that he wanted to know what caused Summer to destroy her own Scroll, but also that he wasn't going to get any information out of her at this time.

"Maybe you should take a vacation. It's clear that something's bothering you, so take a few weeks off to clear your head, longer, if it's needed."

Those were Ozpin's words to her, ringing in her head as she walked up the front porch, unlocked the front door and entered.

"Tai, I'm home!"

She could hear the stove was on, and the telltale sound of burning on a pot.

"Just a minute, Sums!"

"Are you making lasagna again?" Or, as she remembers from last time, trying to make it.

"Don't worry, I won't make the same mistake as last time."

"Just as a precaution, I'll order pizza."

"Okay, that hurts."

"Mommy!"

Summer watched her little fireball running down the stairs.

"Yang Xiao Long," she tried to scold, but only laughed as Yang jumped into her, "What have we said about running down the stairs?"

"But you've been gone for so long!"

Summer giggled when another voice cried out.

"Mama!"

Unlike her sister, Ruby (screaming on the floor, bleeding) power walked down the stairs, then ran once she got to the bottom. Ruby puffed her cheeks out.

"Yang, stop hogging mom!"

"Hey, mommy won't stop hugging me." She sticks her tongue out.

Summer realized that she was holding Yang more tightly than usual. She put her down and knelt to her daughter (her mained daughter). Ruby smiled, jumping into her (horrible) mother's arms.

"I missed you, mom."

"I…I missed you too, R-Ruby."

"Mommy," Yang questioned, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, sweetie," Summer lied, "Why?"

"You're crying."

Her eyes widened, as she wiped away the tears, "Just happy to see you all again."

A ding came from the kitchen.

"Okay, I think I've got it!"

Summer chuckled, "Who want's pizza?"

The two children cheered in excitement, though Tai could be heard aghast.

"Hey, I'll have you know this time it turned out decently."

Summer shook her head, smirking, "Come on, let's have your father's poison."

As the girls ran into the kitchen, Summer did a double take.

"Ruby?"

Said girl stopped, "Yes, mama?"

"Did you get hurt?"

"No."

"Then what happened to your cheek?"

Ruby rubbed her left cheek.

"The other side."

Ruby rubbed her right cheek.

"Mama, is there something there?"

On Ruby's hand there was nothing, despite rubbing the bleeding cheek. Summer shook her head, and the cheek looked fine.

"Nothing, Ruby. Must have been a trick of the light." She walked into the kitchen, a smiling Ruby following closely behind as Tai set up the table.

As it turned out, Tai did do a decent job making the lasagna this time. It started out fine, with Tai talking about the trouble that Yang and Ruby were getting into while she was gone, but Summer couldn't help but notice the red marks on Ruby's face. She couldn't quite place what they looked like.

"Mom," Yang exclaimed, "You went to Haven?"

Summer blinked, "Yes, I did, Yang."

"Did you fight any cool Grimm?"

Memories of the Scarlet Hound smacking her into the wall emerged.

"I would…say so."

Ruby giggled, as branch-like scars started to appear, red lines spreading from them, "Mama kicked its but."

Memories of the Scarlet Hound clutching its head in pain. "NO! WHY?! RUN!" Summer's eyes began to shake.

Yang joined in the giggling, "Yeah, mommy made it cry in pain."

Memories of Ruby screaming in pain from her mask being ripped off. Summer's breathing quickened, which Tai noticed.

"Sums?"

Ruby nodded her head, blood coming off of her. "Yeah, mama's the greatest huntress ever!"

'And the worst mom.' She thought, as Ruby turned, the left side of her face demolished. Her left eye was missing, as scars and blood covered the rest of her face.

"Right, mama?"

Summer dropped her fork, sprinting for the front door.

"Summer?!"

"Mom!?"

"Mommy?!"

Tai saw gusts of wind going off as Summer ran out the front door. Ruby and Yang looked at each other, scared.

"Daddy, was it something I said?" Yang pleaded.

"No, no, girls, you're fine. Mommy's just sick, so she needed some air. I'm going to go make sure she's alright. Don't answer the door unless it's us, alright?"

Said girls nodded, but clearly were worried about the situation. Tai went out the front door, locking it (he doubted it'd stop Yang if she got angry) and began running after Summer. He had a feeling she knew where she was going. Something happened in Mistral, beyond just finding out Leo was a traitor. That wouldn't make Summer lose her cool like that, nearly exposing her Maiden powers to the girls. Running through the woods, he eventually came upon a cliffside, and found Summer.

She was shivering, sobbing, sitting on the edge, with small gusts of icy wind swirling around her.

"Summer?"

The wind instantly dissipated, and Summer froze.

"Tai…are the girls alright?"

"They're scared, but they're fine."

Summer choked, "Great, one more failure, I hurt both of them. Guess I am the worst mom in the world."

Tai scrunched his face. "Worst mo-Summer, that's ridiculous."

"With what I know? I'm not sure anymore."

Tai sat down next to her, a determined glare in his eyes. "What happened in Mistral."

Summer looked over the horizon, the setting sun basking an orange glow over Patch. She turned to her husband.

"What I say here must never be shared, not without my permission."

"Oka-"

"I'm serious, Taiyang. No one. Not Ozpin, not Qrow, no one."

Tai's eyes widened. It wasn't like Summer to keep secrets from Qrow. Raven, sure, since she abandoned them, but Qrow. But he nodded, all the same.

Summer took a deep breath. "I didn't go to Haven just to find the mole. I needed to know about team ROWSE."

"What could Haven provide that-" His mouth dropped, "You used the Lamp?" Summer nodded, "Without telling us?"

"Ozpin would have stopped me, and we needed to know about them. Every month, they got stronger and stronger. With Ketos, there was no way we could steal the Staff back. They had knowledge that seemed impossible. But, when I asked the Lamp, she refused."

"Refused? I thought the Lamp answers all questions."

"Except for one rule."

"Yes, it cannot ask about the future."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Tai scrunched his face. "Wait…"

"Tai, they knew about Fria. They knew about the Staff, and how to use it. I mean, Snow's act of placing gravity dust wells to replace the Oracle System means they knew the Staff was the only thing keeping Atlas up. That's not something that they could just come across. This isn't like Theodore, who found our group, this is something only we would know. But, more than that, before Jinn could clarify why she couldn't answer my question…ROWSE showed up."

Tai's jaw dropped, "Wait, they were there? At Haven-Actually, now that I think about it, that girl, that Lionheart tried to take hostage…that was the girl from the Glass Unicorn, wasn't it?"

Summer shrugged, "Probably. But, the important thing here, Tai, is taht ROWSE knew I would be at Haven, and waited until I opened the door. Which means they knew I was the Spring Maiden. Knowing I'm a Maiden is one thing, but knowing I'm Spring."

"Summer, are you suggesting?"

"Tai, we work for a man who reincarnates everytime he dies, and has fought the literal Grimm Queen for thousands of years. We have magical women, nearly unbreakable magic vaults, and relics left behind by the gods."

Tai stopped himself, then deadpanned, "Yeah, time travelers aren't really that far fetched, now that I think about it. Is that what's gotten you-"

Summer barked out a sad laugh, "No, it's much worse. ROWSE demanded the Lamp. Naturally, I refused. So a fight broke out. I realized that, no matter what I did, they were getting the Lamp-"

"Ozpin says that the Lamp was safe…" his shoulders slumped, "You lied."

"I honestly had to. With what I learned-"

"But the Lamp didn't tell you anything."

"It told me enough by not answering. During the fight, I had Ru-Scarlet pinned down. I figured, if I'm losing the Lamp, I can at least tell Ozpin who the woman underneath it was. But…" She turned her gaze down the cliff, seeing a pack of Beowolves, "Tai, do you see those Grimm? You know how the younger ones don't develop their bone armos until a year in?"

Tai nodded.

"But, when they do, it's not simply armor, it's a part of them. Like a second skin."

"Yeah?"

"Well, Scarlet's mask is the same, I think. Because, not only was it tied to her face by some kind of branches, but, when I ripped it off, her face was bleeding everywhere."

Tai flinched in pain. "Ouch! Yeah, I can't imagine the pain."

"But it gets worse. Remember that they come from the future. Well, Snow saw Scarlet screaming, and she yelled…" Summer's breath hitched, hesitant to say it.

"She said…?"

"She said 'Ruby'." Summer whispered so softly, she thought Tai wouldn't hear it. But, given the slow dawning of horror on his face, he clearly did.

"Oh…oh Gods. Summer, what happened wasn't your fault-"

"Isn't it! I was so determined to find out, that I mained my daughter! My sweet little flower, her face ripped off because I tried getting in their way!"

"But, why would Ruby even try to stop you from using the Lamp?"

"It's a theory I've had. At some point, I must've asked Jinn something, and that something led to me dying. After all, the Lamp isn't as useful to them as the Staff, so why steal it? Why wait until I opened the door to get it? Ruby was so determined to stop me from asking anything from Jinn, that the only answer I can think of is that whatever I ask gets me killed! So our little girls had to grow up without a mother for, Gods, a decade? Maybe more? Who knows?! And the reward Ruby gets for saving my life? I ripped off her face!"

Summer's spiral only ended when Taiyang gripped Summer into the tightest hug he's ever given.

"Breath…" He muttered, as Summer tried to slow her breathing, the now clearly Maiden winds dying down around them.

"What do you intend to do?"

"I…Ruby needs me. The older one. I did something terrible to her, and she needs me to fix it."

Taiyang gave a sad smile. "Then go find our daughter. Let her know that she is loved no matter what happened between you two."

Summer's tears welled up as Tai pulled her into another hug. "I'll try. But I might be gone for a much longer time. And I just got back."

"You don't have to leave now, if you don't want to-"

"No. The longer I wait, the worse Ruby-The other Ruby- could get. I'll set off the day after tomorrow."

"Alright. But, lets get back to the house. Your younger daughters are scared witless."

The two parents stood up, heading back into the forest, towards the Xiao Long/Rose homestead. "Like I said, Tai, not a word to Ozpin or Qrow. I can't use them to find Ruby, because they'll ask why I'm so focused on finding them, and-"

"I understand. Time travel...man, things are crazy enough as is-Wait, does that mean that Ursis is Yang? I mean, her Semblance is fire related, and Yang's hair does sizzle when she gets angry."

Summer put her hands to her head. "Oh Gods, I didn't even think about that, I've been so focused on Ruby, the thought didn't occur to me!"

"Do you think that she'd help? I mean, if you saw her face, then Urs-Yang might find you?"

Summer shook her head. "I can't rely on chance alone to find Ruby. But I do know someone who might be able to help."

Author's Notes: In case you're wondering, yes, the cliffside Summer was at is the same spot as her grave in the canon timeline.

I do hope I'm doing the characterization of Summer and Tai justice for this fanfic. It's hard to tell at times.

As always, leave a review, fav/follow, and I'll see you all next time.