Chapter Text
The sky over Patch was a rainbow of pinks and yellows and just a pinch of blue as the first light of the sun began cresting over the horizon. Early morning rays danced their way through the trees surrounding the Xiao Long-Branwen-Rose house, basking the side porch in a playful light.
Raven stood there on the porch, leaning lazily against a wooden column, watching the forest as it began to light up with the promise of a new day.
She was wearing her traditional combat clothes: a red and black top cinched together with a wrap depicting a painted mountain scene. Accompanying that were black thigh-high boots, a black combat skirt, armored bracers, and of course, her trusty Omen secured around her waist.
The door creaked softly as it opened behind Raven. She didn’t bother turning around, she didn’t need to.
Honeysuckle perfume filled the air around her, and her eyes fell shut at the scent with a growing smile.
It smelled like home .
Raven felt the porch shift beneath her as her wife came up beside her.
“Well, this is a pretty sight,” Summer cooed.
“The sunrise always is,” Raven hummed.
“Wasn’t talking about the sunrise,” Summer said.
Raven tried to fight the blush that was rising on her face, but she knew it was a losing battle.
Summer crashed into her while she was distracted, Raven’s balance giving out under the sudden weight and sending them both stumbling.
She grabbed the railing, her momentum slamming her back into the heavy wood.
Summer fell against her, a devious grin growing on her face as her arms snaked around Raven.
“Just like I planned,” Summer giggled.
“I refuse to believe you planned this,” Raven smirked, her hands finding purchase on her wife’s shoulders.
“Are you questioning your leader?!” Summer gasped.
Raven simply smirked harder.
“Are you questioning your wife ?”
Raven’s mouth flapped as any attempt at a comeback died in her throat.
She was pinned there against the railing by those radiant silver eyes. Even after all these years, Raven found herself completely enraptured by Summer Rose.
A small smile grew on her lips.
“Not at all. I would follow my wife to the ends of Remnant,” Raven breathed, leaning down to give Summer a kiss.
It was a long, lazy kiss, the kind that only happens between two people that have grown so comfortable with each other that heady passion has given way to the kind of love that you savored , that you were eager to linger in, that you didn’t want to rush.
They took a breath as they finally broke the kiss, Raven resting her head against Summer’s.
“Lucky for you, we don’t need to go to the ‘ends of Remnant’,” Sumer chirped. “This mission’s out in the forests just outside of town. There’s a good chance we can be back before Tai even wakes up.”
Raven let out a deep sigh
“You’re not going to let me live that ‘ends of Remnant’ thing down anytime soon, are you?”
Summer gave Raven a quick peck on the cheek. “Never, Rae. Never.”
The sky over Patch was a rainbow of pinks and yellows and just a pinch of blue as the first light of the sun began cresting over the horizon. Early morning rays danced their way through the trees surrounding the Xiao Long-Branwen-Rose house, basking the side porch in a playful light.
Raven stood there on the porch, leaning lazily against a wooden column, watching the forest as it began to light up with the promise of a new day.
She was wearing a red tank top, along with her golden-stitched black pants.
A soft creak announced the door opening behind Raven.
She was pulled from her daze by the sound. There was the briefest of seconds where Raven was brought back to a previous time, happy memories that were a distant past.
The porch shifted under her, bringing her back to the present. She turned to greet the mystery guest.
“Oh, Ruby,” Raven hummed. “Good morning.”
The leader of team RWBY stood before her, already dressed and wearing an unsure expression on her face.
“Morning… Miss Branwen?” Ruby stammered back.
“Oh no, please not that,” Raven chuckled.
She took a couple of steps toward the girl, and placed a hand on her shoulder.
“How about just ‘Raven’ for now.”
Ruby nodded at the suggestion.
“I’m not bothering you, am I? I’m usually the first one up. Yang and Dad are pretty heavy sleepers,” Ruby asked.
“Tai never was much of an early bird,” Raven chuckled.
She walked back to the railing of the porch and hopped up on it, swinging her legs over so that she was facing the yard.
“Come, sit with me for a moment,” Raven said, patting the railing next to her.
Ruby followed her command.
“I would get tired of waiting for Dad or Yang to wake up, so I’d come out here and practice on my own. When Uncle Qrow visited he’d spar with me. At least, until I would inevitably start beating him,” Ruby lightly giggled.
Raven chuckled.
She turned slightly to Ruby and took a deep breath, “You really do remind me of her.”
The remark hung in the air.
Ruby hung her head, staring firmly at her lap.
“Did you know her well?” she finally worked up the nerve to ask.
Raven blinked at Ruby as the question rattled around in her head, until finally settled in her chest and twisted around her heart.
Her brow furrowed at the sharp pain as the realization dawned on her.
Tai and Summer never told them.
Of course they wouldn’t. What were they supposed to say?
What would she have said if she was in their place?
“You could say that,” Raven sighed.
Now it was her turn to hang her head, “She was my wife too, after all.”
Ruby picked her head back up with a sudden jerk, snapping it towards Raven, her mouth agape.
“Makes sense they wouldn’t mention it. I was gone after all. But yes, Your father, mother, and I were all together at the same time.”
“Wait!” Ruby gasped. “Does this… Does this mean you’re my mom too?”
Her mom too.
Raven bitterly chuckled at the thought.
She was nobody’s mom. She lost the right to call herself that the moment she ran away.
She knew that. Had accepted it. Had pushed down the gnawing inside her to the far reaches of her mind long ago.
But there was one time…
One time when that gnawing had clawed its way back out.
News had reached her that Summer was pregnant.
Her family was growing, they were moving on without her. She had abandoned them, they weren’t her family any longer.
That choice ate away at her until it finally scarred over, until she understood that they’d never be her family again.
Raven’s eyes turned and met Ruby’s. Eyes that were so familiar to her, yet entirely new.
She had never been so happy to be so wrong .
“We can just stick with ‘Raven’ for now, if you’re more comfortable,” Raven finally answered.
Ruby nodded.
She took a deep breath and let the view in front of her unfold. The sun was beginning to peak over the treeline, casting her and Raven in bright amber hues. She turned to the woman next to her, and exhaled the breath she had been holding.
“Er, Raven?” she meekly said.
Raven turned to her, an inviting smile on her face.
Ruby gulped, still finding her footing around the elder woman.
“I was wondering. You said I remind you of my mom.”
“Right,” Raven chuckled. “She liked to get up early too. We would have entire adventures by the time your father woke up.”
Ruby’s eyes went wide, the young huntress almost bouncing with excitement.
Raven hummed.
“Would you like to hear a story about your mother and me?”
Ruby nodded with so much enthusiasm that it shook her entire body.
She scooted a little closer to Raven, closing most of the gap between them.
Raven did everything she could to keep her composure, but seeing this girl - her daughter, so full of excitement made Raven’s heart melt.
Just a little bit.
Maybe a little more than a little bit.
She thought of her wife again, unable to stop herself from wondering what it’d be like to have her here in the moment.
What kind of mother did Summer want Raven to be to their kids? She wished she knew the answer, but she was determined to be the kind of mother that her wife would have been proud of.
This time she was going to get it right.
Raven smiled at Ruby, playfully knocking their shoulders together.
“Well, there was this one morning. The sky was as beautiful as it was today, but it paled in comparison to Summer. I somehow beat her awake, which was no small feat mind you.”
“But when she did wake up, she was ready for adventure and brimming with energy.”
“She had quite the day planned for us…”
As she recounted her adventure with Summer, Raven couldn’t help but smile at the wide-eyed excitement on Ruby’s face.
This was just one of the many adventures that she had to tell about Summer Rose - her wife - and she couldn’t wait to tell them all.