Chapter Text
Clover stood still as the figure before him looked him over slowly. He had a sinking suspicion as to why her eyes looked so sad. He waited for her to break; for her to tell him how he had done this himself, he’d ruined his chance, Qrow’s chance. How he’d done the one thing he’d wanted so desperately to avoid; he had left Qrow alone, and in pain, again.
But her anger never came.
Instead, silver eyes softened as she spoke. Her voice was shockingly calming, warm. And with each breath, the void around them seemed to be painted with a pleasant, vibrant scene.
“You’ve pretty much already answered this, but I feel I should still ask just to be clear.”
She took a step closer and looked up at him, her almost real but not quite form only just barely taller than the younger girl he knew.
“Do you know who I am, Clover?”
He took a deep breath, letting it out shakily, which he thought was strange since he could tell he didn’t even have lungs in this place to struggle to fill.
“Summer Rose. You’re… You’re Ruby’s mother, and Yang’s. It… It’s an honor to meet you…” he tried to leave it there but the informality felt gritty and rude on his lips “Ma’am.”
His voice came out shakier than he’d expected, as he got used to speaking with no true life in his nonexistent lungs.
She chuckled, smirked, and nodded, a fond tint in her cheeks. Clover couldn’t help but notice how young she was herself; still a young woman in her mid-20s, not all that far from her own child’s age now. His chest hurt at the knowledge of how this eternal youth had claimed her.
“Yes.” Her voice was brighter, fonder.
“That’s certainly my proudest title. But, I was something else to someone you know as well.”
The pain in Clover’s empty chest clenched cruelly. “You… You were Qrow’s teammate. His leader.”
“I was his partner.”
Clover’s imagined heart twisted itself more and more, almost expecting what she said next.
“And his first love.”
Clover didn’t realize he was crying until she stepped forward and reached up to wipe the tear from his cheek.
“He always thought...hoped, I’d be his last as well, of both. And for a while, I thought it might actually end up that way. But…” She looked at him knowingly. “I’m glad we were both proven wrong.”
"D-don't say that..." Clover choked on the sob in his throat, guilt crashing over him. It should have been a joy, to hear that unspoken question answered, to know that Qrow truly had felt the same about him. But it wasn’t. It was agony. Because if so, then that meant that Clover had only given him his worst fear: growing close to someone, loving someone, again, and losing them. Again.
“I-I” Clover stuttered, chest heavy, almost as if he could feel that cursed wound again. “Please don’t say that. He… I should have left him alone.
Summer watched him kindly, her hand slipping from his cheek to lay gently over his sternum, knowingly. Her voice was patient.
“I want to show you something if you’ll let me.”
He nodded without even thinking, and then she was guiding him forward slowly. In what had just been nothingness, Clover looked up and was surprised to see them walking along the main courtyard into Beacon. Pristine, bustling, Beacon Academy.
And there, just a few steps ahead of them was another girl, even more like Ruby; face soft and round, still truly a child. But it was clearly Summer; her hair falling the same, her white cloak billowing behind her.
And then, they were in the entrance hall, and a young man, barely not a child himself, hair prematurely streaked with white and silver glasses set on the tip of his nose, introduced himself as professor and headmaster.
Then, they were suddenly along a ridge; the older pair followed silently and unnoticed as the younger Summer was launched into the air, before extending her poleaxe and hooking onto a tree trunk, spiraling effortlessly to the forest floor.
The girl straightened her cloak and then perked up at the sound of a loud snapping of branches, and a hard thud nearby, followed by an exasperated groan. She holstered her weapon before heading towards the sound.
And then, there he was; gangly legs steadying himself with surprisingly graceful precision, picking twigs out of his messy mop of black hair, thin face softer around the edges, younger, less tired, less worn. At Summer’s approach, the lanky teen looked up instinctively, tension obviously coursing through him at a possible ambush.
But Clover saw the moment that silver and rust eyes met. His chest fluttered fondly at the sight of the young man before him. Like it only can when you get some small glimpse of the person you love as a child; a proud, protective, tenderness at the idea of all parts of their life that built them and brought them to you.
It was Qrow, of course it was. But he was so much...lighter. Broody still, of course, but not yet so beaten down and pieced back together.
“Fuck.” the boy muttered, and Clover nearly laughed at how familiar the look of annoyance was.
“Rae’s gonna kill me.” Qrow huffed and rolled his eyes, already starting to turn away from his new ‘partner’, “Okay, pipsqueak. I know the rules, but let’s just pretend this never happened, alright? I’ve already got a-”
But before he could finish, Summer had grabbed him by a pale thin wrist and was dragging him on towards their goal.
“Hey! Stop, let go of me, you little-” Qrow argued, brow-raising faintly when he realized just how tight her grip was.
Summer spun on him quickly, pulling him down to her level brusquely.
“My name is Summer.” She stated firmly, Qrow’s eyes wide in surprise. “And you’re stuck with me, so stop griping and hurry up.” She grinned smugly and let him go, heading forward again.
Qrow glared after her for a minute, straightening his loose collar and grumbling “brat” before following her, unable to fully hide the hint of a smile on his lips.
Then they were back in the entrance hall, Summer, Qrow, and two others lined up (Tai Yang Xiao Long, and Raven Branwen according to Ozpin. Clover was a bit taken aback at learning about Qrow’s twin, as he’d always thought that he wasn’t actually either of the girls’ blood relative, though Summer had just confirmed a suspicion he'd had that called that even more into question. But regardless, this was obviously Yang’s mother) on stage as Ozpin pronounced them team STRQ, and Summer Rose their leader. He watched as Summer pinned a familiar cape to Qrow’s shoulders, though it was far more clean and bright and unscathed than Clover had ever seen it.
Clover watched as Qrow trained with his team.
He watched as Summer got him to let down his guard bit by bit.
He watched as he argued with Raven, begged her to reconsider, to forget the tribe, and let this be their home.
He watched as Qrow blushed, his hand going to the back of his head as Summer pressed a kind kiss to his cheek.
He watched as the young huntsman opened a box, a dual-banded ring glinting inside as Summer smiled.
He watched as the four full-fledged hunters settled in on Patch.
He watched as Qrow stared down at a tiny bundle, a shock of blonde hair poking out of the blanket.
He watched as Qrow and Raven fought, a similar argument, as he begged her to stay, to be with her, their family, here (and he noticed the wilt in the older Summer beside him when his pleading failed).
He watched as Qrow reluctantly told Tai that she was gone.
He watched as Summer comforted him.
He watched as his eyes widened in panic when Summer told him she was pregnant, confirming Clover's newest suspicion with a pained fondness.
He watched as Summer pulled him back, now begging him to stay.
He watched as Qrow beamed down at another bundle, Yang peering over his shoulder, tears in his eyes.
He watched as Summer, Qrow, and Tai raised their girls together.
And then he felt the Summer beside him, who looked just like the current memory, tense.
And Clover reluctantly watched as Qrow sprinted into the clearing, eyes frantic. Clover saw as rusted irises focused on the torn, blood-splattered, white-cloaked form that lay on the ground. He heard Qrow’s deafening yell, saw as he tripped over himself rushing to his partner’s side.
He forced himself to watch as Qrow dropped beside her, the way his hands hovered over her in hesitation, a gesture all too familiar. As he brushed the hair from her face, tears streaking his cheeks, and as he scooped her up and pulled her into his lap desperately. Clover heard his voice, gruff and pleadingly, heart-wrenchingly, soft, whispering to what they both knew was already only a body.
“Hey, hey, come on, Petals. S-Sum? Summer? Don’t… I’m” His voice broke. “I thought I was stuck with you, you little brat. Come o… Summer. Summer, please. I… I can’t… I can’t go home alone and tell them…. not again. I can’t do that to them again. You can’t leave too. We… we need you, Summer. Summer! I need you. Come on. Look at me, pipsqueak. Please. Summer, please. Please, Summer, open your eyes.”
The silence was just as painful as the pleading.
“Su-Summer. Baby. Please. Come back. Please. Please…… Please.”
Clover finally looked away as Qrow curled over her, the Atlesian wishing he could stop hearing that scream again, that scream that he thought he’d left behind out on the tundra.
“Why are you showing me this? I know... I know I failed him.”
Clover’s stomach flipped as the scene shifted back to Patch, Taiyang crumpled on the floor, holding his daughters; Ruby patting his face in concern, as Yang asked where mommy was, and why Uncle Qrow had left again.
He thought he might be sick at the deluge of dark bars they sped through then. The slurred sound of Qrow’s drunken arguments as he was pushed back into the street. The reckless nature of how he handled himself on his own. The way he seemed to ignore, even welcome, whatever injuries he suffered.
And then, eventually, he stumbled back onto Tai’s porch late one night, bloody and weak. He all but collapsed into his brother-in-law’s arms.
Summer spoke slowly, as they watched Tai drag a cleaned-up, but still gaunt, Qrow to Signal.
“You need to understand. Everything.”
The scenes faded and the two hunters were alone in a void once more, Clover's hands shaking as Summer laid her hand gently on his arm.
“I can show you these glimpses of his life. I can’t show you how to fix them. I can’t do anything else for him anymore. But you can.”
Clover looked up at her quizzically, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"You're wrong, you know. About leaving him alone. You shouldn't discredit the good you did for him, the healing, just because there was pain too. He survived this once before, Clover. He can do it again. He might not want to but he can, if he must." Clover began to shrink from her, the guilt still threatening to consume his lifeless body that was so cruelly still able to hurt like this.
But Summer's grip on his arm held him near her. "But he doesn't have to, not this time. This time you can both get a second chance. This time you can decide if this is really how your story is meant to end."
Clover's eyes shot up to meet hers, finally grasping what exactly she was saying. And he wilted as he saw, for the first time, tears falling from dazzling silver eyes as she spoke, her voice softer than before, but still determined.
"Trust me. That choice is such a gift. Not all of us get it. Don't take it lightly."