Chapter Text
“Alright,” Yang said, coming into the kitchen of their house in Mistral. “I’m going to make a run to the store to stock up on whatever else we need before we head out in a few days. Anyone want to add to the list?”
“Oh! I need some more electric dust!” Nora popped up, beaming.
“A few extra bullet rounds couldn’t hurt.” Ren admitted.
“You can have some of mine,” Blake offered. “Sun and the others left me with a pretty decent stock before heading to Vacuo. I don’t see us running into much trouble on the train.”
Ren nodded. “Thank you.”
“We should probably get some snacks for the train too,” Jaune suggested. “It’s a few days ride and the meals are on a pretty tight schedule.”
Yang nodded, scribbling everything down on a notepad as she leaned in the counter. She smiled to herself.
“What’s that look for?” Weiss asked skeptically. “I hope you aren’t planning something utterly ridiculous.”
“Nope,” Yang chuckled. “Just thought I might make some cookies to take with us.”
“Like the ones you and Ruby used to make at Beacon?” Nora asked excitedly. “Those were the best! I could eat an entire batch myself.”
“You did eat an entire batch yourself,” Ren reminded her.
Nora waved him off. “That’s beside the point. We haven’t had them in forever!”
“They were really good.” Jaune admitted. “Kinda reminded me of home.”
Yang softened, a sad fondness in her eyes. “I’m glad that you guys liked them so much. It’s our mom’s recipe. She taught it to me and I taught it to Ruby.”
Ren came over, setting a hand on her shoulder. “Would you mind teaching it to me too? I…don’t have many family recipes. I’d like to add this one to the list, if that’s alright.”
Yang blinked, feeling tears prick at her eyes. She sniffled and nodded, ducking her head. “Y-yeah, sure. I…that won’t be a problem.”
Ren hugged her shoulders gently, a small smile shared between them. He pulled back as Yang got herself composed.
“Alright,” she said, sliding the notepad over to the others. “Write down some snacks and things you’d like to get. I’m gonna go ask Ruby what she wants.”
“Got it.” Jaune took the list to keep track as Nora started to list off possible snack options. Yang snorted in amusement, heading towards the hall. A hand grabbed her metal wrist and she paused, looking at Blake. The other woman’s ears went flat and she quickly let go, averting her gaze.
“I-I just…wanted to ask how you’re holding up?” she murmured. “From the fight?”
Yang narrowed her eyes slightly, before heaving a weary sigh. She brushed a hand through her hair. “Sore, tired, pretty usual for after a major fight.”
“True,” Blake said. She shifted nervously, fiddling with the side of her coat. “I…sorry, I shouldn’t keep you.”
“It’s okay,” Yang said softly. She shrugged. “It’s…nice of you to check in.”
Blake’s head raised, surprised by the comment. She pursed her lips and nodded slightly. Yang nodded in return before continuing down the hall. Once she was out of sight of the others, she sighed, shoulders slumping. It was so hard to keep up appearances with Blake. She knew that Ruby wanted the team back together desperately, and running into Blake at the battle in Haven surely had to be the sign of some kind of divine intervention. Yang simply couldn’t get over the way her heart clenched so painfully in her chest every time they interacted.
She was angry at her. Furious. Blake had left her. She had ran. When Yang threw herself between Blake and Adam to protect her, lost her arm for her, she had simply ran. It wasn’t that Yang didn’t understand her need to get away, the desire not cause more pain by her presence. But it had. Her absence had carved something jagged and deep from her chest. It had left a hollow hole that sat empty, abandoned, in the long months past. Now, that she was back the piece no longer seemed to fit, growing far too small for the depth of the hole left behind. Yang feared it would never slot back into place, that it would forever teeter at the rocky edge, always waiting for the day to would slide free and be lost forever.
She shook her head, trying not to let herself get too deep in her thoughts. It never helped, letting her mind dwell and sink into the shadows that always awaited her now. She couldn’t afford to slip up. Not now. Not when they had a job to do. Yang pushed open the door to Ruby’s room, not even bothering to knock.
“Yo, Rubes. Are there any snacks you wa-“
“Yang!” Ruby shrieked, turning quickly at her entrance, cream blouse pressed to her chest in a modicum of decency as she was getting dressed. “Can’t you knock?”
Yang, however, had froze, eyes going wide in horror at the sight before her. She hadn’t seen much of her baby sister since they arrived. Sure, she’d trained with the others in the prep for going to Haven, and the RWY portion of their team had been sleeping in the same room for nearly two weeks now. Yet, in all that time, Yang had never seen her sister unclothed as she was, showing more skin than her outfit typically allowed.
And with it, the scars.
They littered every inch of her body. Gashes across her thin arms, a slash in her back, tiny cuts across her thighs and hip. There was a scar of three deep claws in her thigh that had obviously healed wrong, and a cut through her side that couldn’t have been anything, but deep. She had a burn in her shoulder, and the bruises from their fight were already turning mottled. Yang felt dizzy. She wanted to throw up. Her baby sister was a tapestry of pain, wounds marking her skin that Yang was never there for, injuries her big sister didn’t protect her from.
Ruby shifted, hugging herself to cover the marks. She swallowed thickly, voice small as she murmured, “Yang?”
The call snapped Yang out of her stare, body moving towards her sister. She couldn’t help the way her eyes scanned her body, calculating and taking stock of every mark she could find. There was the one from when she cut herself with Crescent Rose while working on it. There was the scar from when she fell out of the treehouse when they were kids. There was the mark left after she’d taken the sharp end of a talon in the middle of a mission at Beacon. So many of them she could trace to memories and moments, every one burned into Yang’s mind more certain than even her own name. Yet, there were so many she didn’t know of, missing memories from a time she wasn’t close. How many had she gotten from the Fall of Beacon? How many from the months they were apart?
“My baby…” she breathed, setting her trembling hands on Ruby’s arms. “My beautiful, beautiful baby…”
Ruby hugged herself tighter, as if trying to hide her scars, hide the reminder of their separation. “Y-Yang…I’m alright, I promise. They’re so old. It isn’t-“
“Don’t!” Yang snapped, silencing her in a moment. When Yang looked up, tears burned in her red eyes, her jaw clenched tightly to keep the tremor out of her lips. “What happened to you? Please, Ruby, what happened?”
Ruby swallowed thickly, once again averting her eyes to a random spot off to the side of the room. “I-it wasn’t bad…not really. Traveling through two countries takes a lot. We got blisters and sores and scrapes. It was normal.”
“Ruby,” Yang didn’t care how desperate her voice sounded, pleading from the depths of her shattering soul. Her hand came up to cup her cheek. “Tell me, please.”
Ruby closed her eyes, tilting her cheek into her hand. “M-my aura shattered a few times. I-I got hit by an Ursa, thrown around a bit by a Beringel, attacked by a few villagers. It really isn’t anything to worry about.”
“You were attacked by villagers?” Yang breathed. “Why?”
Ruby shrugged, looking down at the floor. Anywhere, but at Yang, really. “Didn’t like Huntsmen…they…they heard about Beacon, were siding with Salem’s beliefs. I…I tried to convince them against it, but…”
She gestured loosely to the burn on her shoulder. “They didn’t take it very well…”
Oh, Yang wanted to hunt these people down and murder them. How dare they hurt her baby sister. How dare they lay their hands on the sweetest child to ever walk this wretched planet. Yang would end them. If she ever got the chance, she would rip them to shreds. She was seething, smoke slipping through the edges of her lips. She didn’t even realize how hot she’d become until Ruby’s cold hands tapped her cheeks on either side, a gentle slap to bring her back to herself.
“It’s…it’s okay, Yang.” Ruby murmured, looking up at her. “It’s alright. I’m fine.”
Yang shook her head. She slipped her hands up to close around Ruby’s wrists, keeping her hands on her face. Yang tried to keep them at bay, but her traitorous tears burned at her lash line. “It isn’t okay, Rubes. I…I should have been here. I should have protected you.”
Ruby shook her head. “No, Yang. You needed to recover. You needed to take time for yourself. You had been through so much. If anything, I should have stayed longer. I should have been with you, helped you, found another way.”
Yang shook her head between Ruby’s hands. “No…no, you shouldn’t have. I don’t think…I think I needed the worry. I think I needed to fear for you being away to pull me out of it. The only thing I could think of was if you’d be okay, if you would make it here in one piece. Just wanting to see you again helped me so much.”
Ruby smiled slightly. “Then…maybe everything worked out for the best in the end?”
Yang sighed, moving Ruby’s hands off as she let go of her wrists. “I still don’t like the thought of you being in so much pain when I couldn’t be there for you.”
“Uncle Qrow says it builds character.” Ruby shrugged and giggled. “I’m sure we’ll gain many more along the way.”
Yang shook her head, frowning. “I don’t like it, but I know I can’t do anything about it.”
“Yep!” Ruby pulled on her cream blouse, adjusting it at the shoulders. “Besides, you have plenty too.”
She nodded at Yang’s arm. The blonde snorted humorlessly, grasping the wrist of the metal. “Yeah…more than just on the surface.”
“Mom had scars,” Ruby said suddenly as she pulled on her black and red corset.
Yang came over to help her with the ties, an instinct built by years of practice. She sighed, tugging it in place gently. “Yeah…she did.”
Summer Rose was a map of the battles she’d survived. Gashes and bruises and cuts all marring her porcelain skin, building her into the amazing Huntress and mother she was. Even Dad had his fair share of scars, one covered by the tattoo on his bicep. Uncle Qrow carried his own as well, both the physical kind and those far deeper. Each one amazing. Each one full of love. Each one a promise of another day.
Ruby pulled on her skirt and grunted as Yang tightened and tied off her corset. As se straighted, Yang hugged her sister tightly, nuzzling against her shoulder.
“I love you,” she whispered.
Ruby tipped her head against hers. “I love you, too.”
Maybe Yang couldn’t protect Ruby from everything. Maybe she couldn’t keep her from scraps and bumps and claws. She could be there to clean up the mess, though. She could be there to offer aid. She wouldn’t let Ruby be alone. Not now, not ever.
Yang would always be there.