Chapter Text
Lightning flashed in a blindingly bright burst through the curtained windows, quickly followed by the deafening crack and rumble of thunder that did little in the way of dampening Yang’s angered roar.
The blond brawler stalked around the room with all the grace of a lumbering dragon enraged over her disturbed horde, eyes a piercing red and flames licking at the edges of her hair. Smoke billowed from her mouth as she growled low, though her teammates were barely phased by her rage. Weiss, already dressed in her white night gown and blue robe, was perched elegantly upon the edge of her bed as she filed her nails. Blake, bound in her black silk robe, watched Yang’s rampage with a somber expression from her curled position on her own. There should have been a third set of eyes to bear witness to such a display, yet, the fourth bed within their dorm lay utterly empty, devoid of any personal affects that had just been there that morning.
“That two-faced bitch!” Yang seethed, fingers curled like talons as she paced. “How the hell could she transfer schools just like that without saying a word? And to Atlas of all places?”
“According to Nadia’s letter, we simply didn’t meet her standards for a worthy team,” Weiss sneered in annoyance. “As if winning the Vytal Festival our first year wasn’t testament enough to our skills.”
Blake snorted, resting her cheek in her hand. “Good riddance. She was an awful leader, anyway. Only ever wanted the limelight for herself. She didn’t care about making us work together as a team. We were just her lackeys to fall back on.”
Weiss nodded. “We definitely should have seen it coming. Nadia’s been checked out for weeks now. She wasn’t even making an effort to lead us. I’m more upset that our training has seriously suffered because of her. We’re way behind everyone else at this point in the semester.”
“Ugh! This is so frustrating!” Yang cried, hands in her hair. “We’re down not only a teammate, but a leader, too. What are we going to do?”
“Well, I, for one, have no issue with stepping up as leader.” Weiss said with a dainty hand to her chest. “It should have been that way since the beginning. I have far more training in that area than she ever did.”
Blake snorted. “No offense, Princess, but you aren’t exactly the most inspiring of examples. Your communication skills are seriously lacking, and you have just as much trouble working as part of a team as Nadia did. Not to mention your rigid battle stances.”
“Excuse you!” Weiss gasped, jumping up from her bed to point her emery board at Blake. “As if you’re any better, Belladonna. You barely ever put any effort into working together with us, always disappearing to go off on your own. Honestly, I think the only reason you and Yang even confessed was because of Sun forcing you two into close proximity for longer than 20 minutes. Even then, how do you expect to keep a healthy relationship when you barely spend time with your own girlfriend?”
Blake scowled. “Look, I don’t have to answer to you.”
“That’s exactly the problem!” Weiss cried. “You’re always hostile, you’re always on edge, like you’re ready to run. How do you expect me to trust you to have my back in battle like this?”
“Oh, yeah? And how am I supposed to trust the Heiress of the Schnee Dust Company who thinks Faunus are criminals?” Blake shot back, cat ears pointed straight as she bared her teeth.
“This…isn’t…helping!!” Yang yelled, hair erupting into a blazing flame. “Will you two stop going for each other’s throats while we have more pressing matters? I’m pretty sure there is a clause in the Beacon Code that states all teams must have four members, or else risk being disbanded. Weiss needs a partner and we need a leader, or we’re screwed!”
Weiss huffed, crossing her arms. “I don’t know what you expect us to do about it, Yang.”
“I’m sure Professor Goodwitch will have us in the Headmaster’s office tomorrow about this.” Blake sighed. “Maybe they’ll be able to find someone.”
“Please,” Weiss rolled her eyes. “A new teammate isn’t going to just magically show up at our door.”
A knock sounded at their door, making the girls pause. The three of them exchanged uncertain looks, before Yang heaved a sigh of her own, fingers massaging the bridge of her nose. It was most likely team JNPR, coming by to check on them once more. Or to complain about the noise. They’d been there when the rest of team NWBY had received texts on their Scrolls from Nadia telling them in no uncertain terms they were worthless failures and if Beacon was going to accept such pathetic excuses into their school, then it wasn’t the place for a real huntress like herself to be. Ren had, thankfully, had the foresight to prevent Yang from having her Scroll out at the time, or else risk her ending up with a handful of shattered Hardlight dust. Jaune and Pyrrha had done their best to offer comfort, but the three of them had been too furious at the time to take any solace in it, needing space to cool off.
Now, they were probably back to see if there was anything they could do to assist them. As earnest as they were, Yang really wasn’t in the mood to deal with their attempts at lightening the situation. So, they ignored it. Only to have another knock sound moments later, and not stop. Nora, then. Great. Of all the people, it had to be the loudest and least filtered member of the entire team. Don’t get her wrong, Yang adored Nora on a good day, but right now, she did not have the patience for the other girl’s antics.
When the knocking didn’t stop, Yang’s temper flared as she growled and stormed to the door.
“Wait, Yang!” Blake and Weiss tried to stop her, but it was no use. Her hand was already on the knob, wrenching it open hard enough to nearly pull it off the hinges.
“Wha-!” Her roar was cut off when, instead of the bright grin and high pitched voice of one Nora Valkyrie, Yang nearly got barreled over by the full weight of a bright red blur. It took her a second to realize who the small arms wrapping around her like a vice belonged to, but the moment she saw the red rose petals fluttering around them, she knew.
And her heart stopped.
“R-Ruby?” Yang breathed, eyes widening as she set her hands on the shoulders of her baby sister who was sobbing heavily into her chest. She could hardly wrap her mind around what she was seeing. Her sister shouldn’t be here. She should be at home, asleep, preparing for classes at Signal tomorrow. Not at Beacon crying her soul out into Yang’s arms.
“Yang!” Ruby wailed, hiccuping as she nuzzled her face further against her older sister’s chest. “I-I didn’t…there was nowhere else to go, I just…p-please….please, let me stay…I-I’ll be good, I-I pro-promise, I’ll be good. Please, Yang. Yang.”
If anyone were to wonder about the weakness of the infamous Fire Dragon of Beacon, the girl who kept a small pack of Beowolves at bay all on her own as her team evacuated a half-destroyed town, the girl who helped uncover an illegal weapons smuggling deal and stopped it by punching the leader in the face, the girl who made it to the finals of her first Vytal festival and faced off against one of Atlas’ top fourth year students and won, they would find it right here. The child in her arms was her entire world, her everything, and Yang was shattering on the inside to see her so utterly torn apart.
She hugged her tightly, cupping the back of Ruby’s head. Her frown deepened as she realized despite her hood being up, Ruby was soaked, drenched in the cold rain of the bitter storm raging outside. A bulging backpack had been dropped at her feet, filled with far more than any 13-year-old girl would need for an impromptu trip to see her big sister.
Ruby had run away.
The realization hit her like a ton of bricks.
Ruby, her baby sister, her life and soul and reason for being, had run away from home. At night. By herself. Making the two hour ferry ride from Patch to Vale all on her own in the pouring rain. She could have been maimed by a Grimm, kidnapped by some stranger, robbed, killed. The horrors were endless. Yet, they did nothing to silence the scream that rang from the very depth of her core and filled her soul with ever mounting dread.
Why?
Now, however, was not the time to ask. Yang had far more important matters to attend.
In one fell swoop, Yang had Ruby hoisted into her arms, the girl’s legs around her waist. She carried her to her bed, sitting down so Ruby was in her lap. She squeezed her sister against her as Ruby sobbed and hiccuped, sniffling messily and coughing against her shirt. Ugh, her tank top was definitely a snot rag now, but it was worth it. Yang cradled Ruby close, rocking her side to side.
“Shh, shh, you’re okay, Rosebud.” Yang murmured. “I’m here. Big sis is right here. Things are going to be okay. I’ll keep you safe. No more tears now, huh?”
Looking over her sister’s trembling form, Yang exchanged a look with Blake who nodded and quickly went to the door to fetch Ruby’s backpack, closing their door in the process. Weiss was coming out of the bathroom with a towel and a warm wash cloth, brows furrowed in concern for the young girl.
“I-I’m sorry…I’m sorry…I-I didn’t know where else to go…” Ruby croaked, hiccuping as she clutched Yang’s shirt. “I-I’m sorry…”
“Hey, hey, none of that.” Yang said firmly. “Come on, breathe for me, Sweetheart. There you go. Let’s get some air in those lungs.”
Yang breathed deeply, slowly letting it out, watching as Ruby began to mimic her. Each deep breath seemed to help ground her and soothe her cries, before she was left sniffling and tired. Yang smiled slightly at her, but it was short lived as she got a good look at Ruby’s face and realized she had a cut across her cheek that was bleeding steadilywith the tears and rain, and a swollen split lip.
“Ruby,” Yang breathed cupping her cheek, “Your Aura. What…who did this to you?”
Ruby sniffled, closing her eye as Yang took the warm cloth from Weiss to clean off her tears and snot, before gently dabbing a clean side at her cut. “Got in a fight with a couple of goons trying to rob the Dust shop in the city…”
“What?!” Weiss, Yang, and Blake looked at her with wide eyes.
The younger girl shrugged slightly, sniffling. “I didn’t know how to get to Beacon and nothing else was open, but the Dust Till Dawn shop. So, I went in to ask, but…I kinda got distracted when I saw they had the new issue of Weapon’s Magazine. I had my headphones on, so I didn’t hear when the bad guys came in. One of them tapped on my shoulder and I turned around and he was all like, ‘put your hands up’, and I was like, ‘are you robbing me?’ and he was like, ‘yeah, duh,’ so I was like, ‘oooh’, and then I couldn’t exactly risk pulling out Crescent Rose in the middle of the shop and damage the nice owner’s stuff, so I went all ‘hiya!’ and kicked him through the window. Just like you taught me. So, then I was able to use my Semblance to get outside and pull out my precious baby to kick their butts. I was all like hiya! Wicha! Ya!”
Yang blinked in a mix of shock and horror as she watched her sister gesture rapidly to show how she singlehandedly kicked a group of criminal’s butts. Part of her was proud, the other, much louder, part was screaming that this wasn’t right. None of this was right. Ruby shouldn’t have been fighting bad guys on her own, she shouldn’t even be here. What the hell was going on?
Thankfully, Blake set her hands on Ruby’s back to get her attention, crouching beside them both.
“Ruby. Sweetheart,” Blake said gently, “You’re Aura?”
“Oh,” Ruby looked sheepish as she fiddled with the edge of her black and red combat skirt. “Right. Well…there was a guy with a bowler hat and cane that I think was the leader. He wasn’t too happy that I stopped his plans, so he threw a chunk of fire Dust at me and shot it to make it explode. I didn’t notice until it was too close for me to use my Semblance to get away, so I kinda got caught in it and it broke my Aura. After that, one of the goons punched me in the face and I got really dizzy. Next thing I knew, the shop owner was helping me up and the police were coming, but I didn’t want the police to know I was involved, so the owner was very nice and told me how to get to Beacon. So, I ran off. But getting to campus wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be, and then it started raining, and then I got wet and now I’m here.”
Yang took a steadying breath, feeling about ready to combust. How could her sister be so careless? She didn’t know how strong those criminals could have been. She was still in combat training. She hadn’t even mastered hand-to-hand. What was she thinking? A lecture wasn’t going to do any of them any good at this point, but gods, Yang was going to have to do something to make sure she never did something so stupid again. One thing at a time. Yang just had to focus on one thing at a time, or else she was really going to burn.
“Well, that’s…exciting,” Yang said with a forced smile. “Hey, Rubes, why don’t we get you out of those wet clothes and into something warmer, yeah? If you ask nicely, maybe Weiss will even make you some hot chocolate.”
“What?” Weiss frowned. “Do I look like a maid to you?”
While Ruby turned away from Yang to look at Weiss with bright silver eyes, Yang narrowed her own at Weiss over her sister’s head, mouthing for her to please help. Weiss took one look at Ruby, before heaving a sigh.
“Alright,” Weiss said. “One hot chocolate coming right up. I suppose you’d also like mini marshmallows?”
Ruby turned to Yang for permission, who nodded, so Ruby looked back to nod excitedly too. Weiss breezed over to the corner of the room where she’d set up a little coffee station with a fancy machine and everything. Something about wanting some small luxury while they were in the dorms. None of them certainly complained, except Nadia, but Nadia was a whiny bitch who didn’t like anything. Yang pulled down Ruby’s hood to put the towel over her head to warm her up a bit.
“Come on,” she said gently, helping Ruby off her lap so she could stand. “I gotta change my shirt now too, seeing as you snotted all over it.”
Ruby ducked her head. “Sorry…”
Yang softened and ruffled the towel over Ruby’s hair. “Nah, it’s alright. Part of being a big sister. I’m sure you’ll feel a lot better after a hot shower. I’ll even let you use Weiss’s fancy soaps, but don’t tell her, okay?”
The blonde winked and Ruby giggled, nodding as she followed her into the bathroom. Yang made quick work of helping Ruby strip out of her clothes, checking her pale form for any more bruises and injuries, before ushering her into the shower as she went to hang her clothes to dry. The moment Yang closed the bathroom door behind her, her shoulders slumped, happy facade dropping as she pressed a hand to her face.
“Yang?” Blake called softly, coming to her girlfriend’s side.
“She ran away,” Yang murmured, squeezing her eyes shut. “Ruby ran away, Blake.”
Blake frowned slightly, rubbing Yang’s arm. “Kids run away for all sorts of reasons. That doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be something bad.”
Yang shook her her head, looking at her girlfriend. “You don’t understand, Blake. Ruby isn’t…she isn’t like me. She doesn’t rebel, she doesn’t rail against the world. Ruby’s quiet, shy, docile even. She’s a homebody. She likes keeping her nose in her comics and video games, or working away on new weapon ideas. Ruby wouldn’t just pack her whole life up and run to me unless…”
“Should you call your father?” Weiss asked tentatively. “Or your uncle?”
She was tempted. Very tempted, but something in Yang’s gut told her to wait until he heard it from Ruby first. If it had been something like…like that, then Ruby would have said something already. She would have called. At least, Yang hoped. Her stomach was bound in knots, bile clawing at her throat. She shook her head, pushing away from the door and passed Blake as she went to hang up Ruby’s clothes. Just focus. That was all she could do right now. Focus, and wait until she got answers. Even though it was destroying her inside not knowing what was going on with her family.
Yang hung Ruby’s clothes and cloak up against the wardrobe to dry, rummaging through her sister’s backpack for her pajamas. Her bag was hastily packed, no rhyme nor reason for what was shoved inside. A tool kit for Crescent Rose, the weapon of which now sat on Yang’s desk. A few of Ruby’s favorite books. Some ammo rounds. A few spare changes of clothes. Socks. Ruby’s red blanket. When she pulled out one of the books, Yang realized it was green with a golden oval on the front, a tree emblazoned in the metal. The Girl Who Fell Through the World. Their mother’s favorite story, and the last one she had read to them so many years ago, before she left and never returned. Something slipped out of the book, fluttering to the floor. Blake picked it up, her expression softening, before she knelt by Yang to hand it back to her. Yang eyes widened slightly as she took it, realizing that it wasn’t just any paper, but a photo of her and Ruby with their parents and Uncle Qrow when they were kids. It was Yang’s favorite picture of their family, the one she always kept on the nightstand between her and Ruby’s beds at home. It was bent on one end, a piece ripped off, like the frame that it had once been in had been broken and damaged the photo in the process. The realization made that sick feeling twist hard in Yang’s stomach and she turned to the bathroom door with a devastated expression.
What the fuck had happened at home?
“Hey, hey.” Blake’s voice quickly cut through the growing smoke that threatened to suffocate Yang, her hands on her face, gently pulling her attention to brilliant amber eyes. Blake looked at her softly, brows furrowed in pain at seeing Yang so distraught. “Look at me. We’re going to find out what happened, alright? But Ruby needs you to be strong. You can’t lose yourself to the what ifs right now.”
Yang swallowed thickly, nodding as she laid her forehead against Blake’s, taking a shuttering breath.
“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Yang murmured.
Blake smiled slightly. “You won’t have to find out.”
Yang grabbed Ruby’s black and pink pajamas from her bag, before rising to go to her own wardrobe to rummage through her things. Yang tossed her orange tank top into the laundry now that it was covered in snot and wet with tears, replacing it for an old band t-shirt as she pulled out her thick purple cardigan and a pair of orange socks for Ruby. Exchanging another look with Blake, Yang rolled her shoulders back as she replaced her carefree mask, and walked back into the bathroom. It wasn’t long before she emerged with Ruby dressed in her pajamas and practically drowning in Yang’s cardigan, her hair carefully dried and brushed out with her black Grimm face mask on her head to push her bangs out of her face. Yang had made sure to disinfect and put a little plaster over the cut on Ruby’s cheek, a scab forming on her lip. In the meantime, Blake had put Ruby’s blanket on Yang’s bed with Yang’s yellow one, making a cozy little place for the young girl to curl up as Yang guided her over.
“Careful,” Weiss said as she came over to hand Ruby the steaming mug of hot chocolate. “It’s hot.”
Ruby curled her hands around the mug, murmuring her thanks as she tentatively took a sip of the hot chocolate.
“It’s really good.” She smiled slightly as she looked at Weiss. “You know, you’re a lot nicer than Yang’s stories.”
“Excuse me?” Weiss shot an accusatory glare at Yang.
Yang winced. “That was before we worked on things.”
Weiss didn’t seem convinced, shooting her a judgmental look, before sighing and sitting on the edge of Blake’s bed with her. Yang made a mental note to apologize later with some of the macarons Weiss liked from the bakery in the city. For now, she sat down on the bed and wrapped her arm around Ruby, letting her sister lean into her side as she sipped at her hot chocolate. Ruby looked around the room, tipping her head at Yang.
“Don’t you guys usually have a fourth person here?” She asked. “What was her name…Nada? Neva?”
“Nadia,” Blake corrected with a snort. “And she kinda ditched us this morning.”
“Transferred to Atlas, because she thought we weren’t good enough to be on a team with her.” Weiss huffed. “She’s a pompous ass if you ask me.”
Ruby’s mouth dropped open. “What? You guys were, like, awesome in the Vytal Festival! Everyone at Signal was talking about your fights for weeks.”
“Her loss.” Yang shrugged. She glanced at Ruby, worrying her lip between her teeth as her sister fished out a gooey marshmallow to eat. She really didn’t want to push Ruby before she was ready, but Yang couldn’t stand the gnawing worry in her gut. She had to get some answers. She had to know the truth.
“Rubes,” Yang said gently, rubbing small circles on her sister’s lower back. “Not that I don’t love getting to see you, but…what are you doing here?”
Ruby’s head dipped, shoulders rising to her ears as she tried to curl into herself, like she could hide in the oversized cardigan she wore. That alone confirmed Yang’s worst fear. Something had happened. Something very bad.
“Ruby?” Yang murmured worriedly, Ruby curling into herself more, turning her head away. “Honey, talk to me. Did something happen at home? Is Dad okay?”
Tears welled as Ruby hiccuped. She squeezed the mug between both of her hands, knees drawn to her chest. She shook her head, sniffling as the tears dripped down her face.
“I-it’s all my fault…” Ruby sobbed. “I-I just…I tried so hard. I really really did, but…but I couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t take it…”
“Take what?” Yang pressed, frowning as she tipped her head down to Ruby’s. “Ruby, what do you mean? Things were fine at home when I came back at break. You said Dad was doing well.”
Ruby sniffled. She looked up at Yang with tearful, tired eyes. “I-I…I lied to you…”
“What?” Yang breathed, eyes widening in horror.
Ruby swiped the back of her hand against her eyes, sniffling. “I-I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I just…I knew you wouldn’t…wouldn’t go to Beacon unless you knew things were okay at home…a-and they were…but…but a few months after you left for your first year…Dad started to slip again. It was just an episode here or there, nothing major, but then…then they started to get more frequent and longer and I…”
Ruby hiccuped, sobbing as tears dripped down her face. “H-he started taking more missions…b-being gone longer…staying at work later…I-I didnt know what changed, but I didn’t…I couldn’t tell you. I knew if I did you’d leave. You’d have come straight home and I didn’t want you to throw away your future. So…so I handled it. It wasn’t awful, not at first, but I didn’t understand where the change came from. I wanted to fix it, like you always do, but I didn’t know how.”
Yang looked at Weiss and Blake, the two of them a mirroring the heartbreak currently rattling in Yang’s chest. They both already knew some of Yang’s harrowed past, her father’s slips, his long stretching episodes of shutting down. It was one of the reasons she video chatted with Ruby nearly every night. Why she always kept her Scroll on her, even in class. Why every long weekend or break, Yang would always return to Patch. How…how could she have missed something going on? How had Ruby been able to hide it from her for so long?
“I-I thought I could deal with it,” Ruby murmured. “I thought…maybe it would run its course. And it did, and Dad got better, for a little while. He came home early and we even watched all your Vytal Festival fights together. He still slipped some, but he was doing better. Then you came home for a little while and I thought it would all be fine. But…but it wasn’t. Not long after you left he…he slipped again, but this time was different. T-this time he…he started drinking, like Uncle Qrow.”
Yang’s stomach plummeted.
What? Dad had started drinking? Tai wasn’t abstinent, but he wasn’t much of a drinker, either. He’d have a mixed drink after a tough week of work, or a straight shot after a rough mission, and when he did really drink it was no more than one or two at some kind of event, like a cook out. He’d never drink when he was upset, or angry, had always taught them to be careful, to never use it as a way to numb the pain like Qrow. Hearing that Ruby had been dealing with the episodes on her own was making her queasy enough. This though?
Yang wanted to hurl.
“It wasn’t often,” Ruby sniffled, fiddling with the mug in her hands. “But…but enough…he never got angry, but he’d get so sad and just…stare off, like he was there, but gone. I wanted to know why this happening, I wanted to know why things weren’t just going back to normal. So…so I asked him, and…and…”
More tears fell down her face as she lowered her head. “H-he said it was too hard…taking care of me…he…he couldn’t look at me, talk to me, b-because I looked so much like Mom now. T-the growth spurt I hit over the summer…he said I look too much like Mom in their first year…that…that it just hurt too much…he said he was sorry, he was so sorry, he didn’t understand what was wrong with him. He knew it wasn’t fair or right, but he couldn’t make it stop. H-he went to bed after that and didn’t come back out for days. K-kids at school started making fun of me. T-they bullied me, saying I had a dead beat dad, t-that he didn’t love me anymore, that you left me…”
Ruby shook her head, sniffling. “I-I couldn’t keep listening to it. I couldn’t keep waiting for things to get better. T-they weren’t, nothing was okay without you there. I-I just wanted my family back…so I…I left. Packed what I could and left. I knew if I came to you, t-then things would be better…right? It’ll get better now, right, Yang?”
Ruby looked up at her with a hopeful, broken smile, only to freeze. Yang had her head bowed, every muscle in her body trembling as she ground her teeth together, smoke spilling from the corners of her mouth as her hair ignited into raging flames.
“Y-Yang?” Ruby asked worriedly, frowning at her sister’s sudden rage.
“Yang.” Blake called, trying to snap her out of it.
Yang shook her head, turning furious red eyes to Weiss.
“Weiss,” she growled, voice graveled like hot coals, “You got a good lawyer, right?”
Weiss didn’t even need an explanation, pulling out her Scroll and typing in a number.
“I’ll get it handled,” she said simply.
“Yang, what are you planning to do?” Blake asked cautiously as she rose from the edge of her bed.
“I’m getting full custody of Ruby,” Yang rumbled, rising to her feet as she got her own Scroll, pulling up their uncle’s contact. “And I’m cashing in a long overdue debt.”
“Yang!” Ruby dropped her mug on the ground as she jumped to her feet, not even caring as it spilled over the floor. She rushed to her sister’s side, tugging on her shirt. “I-I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry. I shouldn’t…I shouldn’t have come, I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sorry. I-I’ll go back. It’ll be fine. It’ll work out. Y-you don’t have to do this! Please, don’t throw your future away because of me. Please!”
Yang rounded on her, grabbing Ruby’s shoulders. Red eyes brimmed with tears as she stared in shining silver.
“Ruby,” Yang croaked. “You are my future. You are my past and my present and my everything. I swore to Mom that I would protect you, give you a good life, and I will not go back on that. Not now, not ever. I’ll work something out, but for now you aren’t going back with Dad. I can’t…I can’t trust him to do what is right for you. Not anymore. Understand?”
Ruby’s lips trembled, but she nodded in resignation.
“Blake.” Yang looked at her girlfriend pleadingly, but Blake was already stepping around the spill to come and wrap an arm around Ruby, taking her back over to the bed. Blake looked at her with an approving look, nodding in assurance.
Yang nodded back, a wave of relief to have Blake supporting her in this. She’d been worried for a moment that Blake wouldn’t want to be thrust into something like this so suddenly, but she was nothing if not adaptable. Gods, how did she get so lucky?
Taking a breath, Yang dialed Qrow’s number. It rang and rang and rang and just when she thought that he wouldn’t answer, the line connected.
“Heeey, Firecracker.” He slurred slightly. Of course, he was drunk. “Kinda late in Vale, ain’t it?”
“You need to get to Patch before I do, or I’m going to murder my father.” Yang growled into the Scroll.
“Whoa, what?” Instantly, Qrow seemed to sober up. She never understood how that worked so well, but tonight she was grateful for it. “What’s going on?”
“Ruby ran away from home,” Yang said, rubbing a hand over her face as she paced back and forth, hair still burning. “She came here, she’s in my dorm, and I’m five seconds away from grabbing Bumblebee and driving straight to Patch to wring Dad’s neck.”
“I need a little more explanation here, Yang.” Qrow grunted. “Why did Pipsqueak run away? What happened?”
Yang took a breath, trying-and failing-to calm herself down from a murderous rage to a simmering anger. “Dad’s been slipping for the last year, apparently, and recently got into drinking more than usual. He…he’s been taking more missions, not coming home till late, all to avoid Ruby. He told her…he told her that he couldn’t stand to look at her. That she looks too much like Mom in your first year and he just can’t. Ruby left, because she couldn’t stand knowing she was hurting him.”
Qrow was silent on other line, but Yang heard the low growl tear through his chest.
“Godsdammit, Tai!” He snapped. Qrow let out a rumbling breath. “Alright…alright. I’ll be there in a day or two, three tops. Get his head back on straight if I have to knock it off him first.”
Yang braced herself against one of the desks, fingers digging against the wood as she prepared for what she was going to say next.
“I’m taking full custody of Ruby.” Yang said. “And I need you to talk to Headmaster Ozpin about allowing Ruby to live with us in the dorms until I figure out what to do.”
“What?” The question was barely a whisper, strangled out of her uncle’s throat like a choked off cry. “Y-Yang, you can’t…kid, you don’t gotta do that. Let me figure this out. You’ve got your career ahead of you.”
“I wasn’t looking for permission.” Yang clipped, tipping her head back as she closed her eyes. “I’m doing this, and I need to cash in the favor you owe me to make sure that Ruby is taken care of. Please, Uncle Qrow. I can’t…I can’t let Ruby go through this. Not again. Not alone.”
A heavy sigh. “I-I understand, Firecracker. I’ll see what I can do, but you know that Tai…this might hurt him even worse.”
“I know.” Yang whispered, fighting back the tears in her eyes as she grit her teeth. “I know…and I hate being the one to do it, but I can’t let Ruby suffer like this. It isn’t fair. She’s just a kid. She deserves a good life.”
“Your mother would be proud of you.” Qrow murmured, and Yang had to fight down the sob that nearly tore through her chest.
“But…I think she would also be sad that you’ve had to do so much. Summer never wanted this for either of you. She loved you so much.”
“I know.” Yang croaked, swallowing past the lump in her throat as she opened her eyes to look at the ceiling, willing her tears not to fall. “I loved her too.”
“We’ll get this figured out, Kiddo.” Qrow grunted. “Love you.”
“Love you too.” Yang hung up the line and closed her eyes, taking a few breathes as her hair slowly stopped burning and her eyes returned to normal. Once she was sure she was composed, she turned to see Ruby curled up in Blake’s lap, face buried into her neck as she trembled and shoulders heaved with sobs. Blake hugged her, holding the young girl safely.
Yang’s heart broke. Ruby was only a child, weeks away from her 14th birthday, and now her entire world had come crashing around her. Yang couldn’t stop the sickening twist of guilt in her stomach. This was all her fault. She never should have gone to Beacon last year. She should have waited, she should have postponed her acceptance, or better yet, not gone at all. Ruby had lied to protect her, suffered for an entire year in silence while putting on fake smiles and forced laughs. How many of their video calls had been a mask? How many times was Ruby crying, alone in their room at home while texting Yang silly videos and laughing emoji’s so that she didn’t worry? It was Yang’s job to protect Ruby. She was the older sister. She was the one that promised Mom to watch out for her. It wasn’t right. It wasn’t fair.
It was all Yang’s fault.
“Stop that.”
Yang startled, turning to see Weiss glaring at her as the shorter girl walked over.
“What?” Yang frowned.
Weiss gave her a look that clearly said she thought Yang an idiot. “Do you really think I wouldn’t know your guilty face by now? You’re taking all the blame for this, when you had no way of preventing it. Ruby made her choice to hide it from you, so you could have your chance at school. She chose to suffer, because she loves you. Beating yourself up about this is only insulting what she went through.”
“She never should have had to.” Yang hissed quietly so Ruby couldn’t hear, but she knew by the way Blake’s ears twitched atop her head that she certainly could, though. “It’s my job to protect her.”
“And you can, you will,” Weiss murmured, setting a comforting hand on Yang’s back. “Now that she’s here and you know the truth, you can do something about it. You can’t change the past. It’s better to move forward, and you won’t be doing it alone. You have Blake and I here.”
Yang frowned worriedly. “I can’t…this isn’t your problem, it’s mine. Ruby’s my responsibility, my family.”
“And you’re our teammate,” Weiss said. “Family of yours is family of ours as well. Or did you forget about what Headmaster Ozpin said about teams being a family, too?”
Yang softened, feeling those traitorous tears welling again. She sniffed. “I…thanks, Weiss.”
Weiss nodded. “I’ve called my lawyer. He’s going to get some paperwork in order, but it’ll just require a few signatures and then things will be set. I assume your uncle will be handling your father?”
She sighed. “It seems like it, but I just…I don’t know what I’m going to do if I have to see him in person. I…I love my dad, and I know he’d never do this on purpose. He doesn’t want to be this way. He loves Ruby more than anything else in this world. He’s just…it’s been so hard on him. That doesn’t mean it’s right to do this to Ruby either.”
“Unfortunately, no amount of love we have for someone is an excuse for causing them pain.” Weiss murmured, looking away. “I…I know my mother loves me, and I know she would do anything for my siblings and I, but her way of coping with the pain has only caused more for us, as well. When the way you cope is doing more damage than good, perhaps, it’s time to find a healthier way to deal with it all. Maybe it’ll do your father some good to seek treatment, and perhaps, with Ruby safe with you, he can take the time to focus on his own recovery. So that then, when he’s really better, he can be there for both of you. Not as a shadow of himself, but as who he really wants to be for you.”
Yang’s lips trembled as she tipped her head, forcing out a cracked laugh. “Wow, Weiss, you really have changed since first year. I almost miss the mean Weiss.”
Weiss glared half-heartedly at her. “I may be…difficult, but I’m not heartless. I’m trying to be a Huntress to make the world better. It just so happens that better can also start with the people closest.”
Yang wrapped an arm around her, hugging Weiss tightly. “Thank you…really.”
Weiss hugged her back. “We’ll be here for you. You won’t be going through this alone.”
Yang sniffled, nodding as she pulled back to wipe at her eyes. She took a breath, straightening her back as she put on her sister smile and walked over to Blake. Her girlfriend shot her a worried look, but Yang winked at her reassuringly before she scooped Ruby into her own strong arms.
“Heya, Rosebud.” Yang said, kissing her forehead as Ruby wiped her tears with the sleeve of the too big cardigan. “I know something that will help you feel better.”
“What that?” Ruby murmured, wrapping her arms around Yang’s neck. Yang could tell Ruby was exhausted, her eyelids drooping as she sank into Yang’s warmth. She wouldn’t be awake much longer, but that was just fine. Yang would be here to comfort her and chase away the nightmares. She’d never have to be alone again.
“How about I read you a story?” Yang smiled softly at her. “I think The Four Maidens would be just right for a stormy night like this.”