Work Text:
“What are you two doing up here?”, comes the raspy voice that echoes across the otherwise quiet nighttime.
Yang would say it was moments like this that make her appreciate her uncle the most. No matter how absent he is, he always knew when something was amiss with her and Ruby. Especially Ruby, and that is something she will always admire in a man who isn’t always the most admirable.
“Ruby couldn’t sleep…” she says with a casual shrug, thinking that was a solid enough response for the older man.
Qrow raises an eyebrow at the aforementioned red hooded girl, her posture had been slumped the entire time Yang had been with her, face hidden and knees pulled tight to her chest, but from Qrow’s superior height he can see the stains of drying tears culminating on the roof tiling beneath Ruby. Qrow turns his attention back to Yang, eyes just as inquisitive as they are concerned.
Yang slumps herself, her downcast gaze, almost alien on the usually bubbly blonde, evidence enough for what Qrow seemed to have estimated from the situation.
“...Ahh, I see…” comes Qrow’s raspy voice, much quieter than it was prior, as he comes to sit beside the two sisters.
But that’s the thing. Quiet is all that happened when anyone brought it up… brought her up. Yang could barely get Taiyang out of bed for dinner let alone get him to talk to them about it, Qrow, the absentee he is, is barely around to talk about it and when he is, it’s never to either her or Ruby. And everyone else...well, they’re the quietest of all, almost afraid to say something wrong, always offering pitying looks their way. Yang hated it. She didn’t want their pity.
She wants her mother back. And so does Ruby.
All either of them want is to be wrapped up in their mothers gentle and warm embrace, the safety of the arms that had always protected them, whether it be from the monsters of their nightmares or those in their own reality. They wanted to bask in the easy-going and light atmosphere she brought with her, frolicking in the garden or baking cookies together. Eat her home cooked meals, play games with her, learn with her, laugh with her. Just anything as long as it meant they could be a happy family again.
Gods, there was nothing Yang wanted more.
To have her mother burst through the door, those silver orbs shining as she finally returns home, her father out of bed and ‘alive’ again, her dearest little sister bright and joyful again. But that would never happen. It was Yang’s job now to be what her mother was for them for Ruby, no matter how much her heart ached at the thought of even attempting to replace her.
It was thoughts like this that spur her to wonder how Ruby is actually feeling… whether she really understands what happened…
“...hey kiddos… do you wanna learn something really cool?”, her uncle asks, turning to face them both.
Ruby, for the first time since Yang arrived on the roof with her, looked up at him.
Qrow smiles weakly, his age showing in the way the skin just below his eyes crinkle at the action. When he’s aware that he has both Yang and Ruby’s attention, he points up towards the night sky. Stars shine and twinkle brightly across the inky blue canvas, the moon’s shattered remnants reflecting a pale blue upon the painting of the heavens.
At first, Yang and Ruby looked confused, they had seen the starry sky plenty of times, what was it their uncle was trying to show them that they hadn’t already seen. Qrow smiled at their confusion, chuckling in a way that he thinks is mysterious but Yang thinks is frustrating.
“Now I know what you little tots are thinking, ‘what does my dusty old crow of an uncle think he’s doing showing me stars, I’ve seen stars before’.” Qrow says, smiling down at the both of them. “Well, it's simple, I don't think you've ever seen them properly before." He finishes with a crooked mischievous smile, sharp enough to act like a hook, hoping for one of them to take the bait.
Ruby pulls away from her knees turning to face her uncle with a confused pout, and Yang knew Ruby was now hooked.
"That's not true, Uncle Qrow! We see them perfectly fine." Ruby says, childlike agitation laced in her quiet and saddened appearance.
Yang had to admit, she was very much on Ruby's side in this debate. How else are they meant to look at stars, if they aren't seeing them properly? They're just sparkly specks spread across the sky, there isn't much else to them. But the chuckle her uncle let's out seems to challenge both of the sisters mindsets, in its low raspy nature.
"Oh sure, I'm sure you kid-lets can see them well enough, but you aren't seeing them for what they really are." He states, his voice bleeding away to a hushed whisper towards the end. The whisper laced with a promise of wonder, the promise to show them something he probably shouldn't.
And it instantly catches their attention. The Xiao Long-Rose sisters were adventurers at heart, they set off into the depths of their imagination to fight the good fight, to save the damsel, find the treasure and protect the people. Dreams and ideals they wish to make reality in due time. So what all this culminates into is two young girls, with a wish to explore the unknown no matter where their curiosity leads them. So when an opportunity for that is so readily offered to them, what choice have they but to take it? The two sisters quickly shuffle closer to their uncle, careful of the edge of the tiles that mark the end of the roof, and look to him eagerly for whatever piece of wisdom he wishes to impart with them.
Qrow smiles at them again, crossing his legs, as he reaches for his flask. Taking a quick swig from his pocket bottle, before beginning. Yang has to remind herself of what her father had told of her Qrow's flask, that it wasn't some magic potion he kept to keep him 'the coolest' around - despite what her uncle may claim.
"Well, here's something I learned a long time ago, from an old friend of mine..." his slight pause was enough for Yang to catch on to whom he was referring too, "well, we were together one night in the north of Mistral, it was a nice and clear night just like this one", he makes a slight motion of his hand for emphasis, "and we were both exhausted from fighting off a horde of Grimm giving trouble to a few travelers heading for Wind Path. So, we decided to take a break, and they roped your old uncle into being a boring nerd and stargaze with them." He chuckled, with a soft shake of his head.
Yang watches as Ruby tilts her head, a small frown adorning her face at her uncle's statement.
"Stargazing isn't boring, Uncle Qrow! Mommy used to do it all the time with me!" she says in a quiet anger, frustrated her uncle would even say that. And it breaks Yang's heart.
Evidently it breaks Qrow's as well, if the flinch in his shoulders and the shock painting his face was any indication. But, he sighs, and then smiles wanly at the sisters.
"She did, didn't she..." he takes a moment, letting the words roll around in the air, before his throat bobs and he continues, "well, she and this person would've gotten along just fine. They made me lay there for hours, they pointed out all the different constellations and all kinds of ridiculous stories about their origin...but there was one story that stuck out as truth." He says, purposefully stretching out a pause, as if dangling a jar of cookies in front of them both, smiling at the way the sisters gazed at him with the same invested shine glimmering in their eyes. A shine, at once stage, he feared they had lost. "They told me, that every time you think you lose someone important to you, every time you think they're gone forever, they aren't. They're right up there," he points toward the inkiness of the night sky, "looking down on us, watching us from above, every single one of them... becomes a star." He states softly.
Yang doesn't buy it... but despite that she allows the wonder of the idea to wash over her. Allows herself a moment to bathe in the joy of thinking that maybe her mother still watches her... would she be proud of what Yang has been doing? Gods, Yang hopes so.
"They become a star, and stay there to forever remind us that they will always be with us," Qrow continues, "and the reason they shine so bright is because that light, the light they bring to us every single night, is their love. The love that they hope will guide us all forward, if only we take a moment to see it." he finishes with a soft whisper, his eyes closed basking in the memories of the conversation.
But soon enough Yang's attention is brought to Ruby, her sister shifts and soon stands, her attention no longer on Qrow, but to the sky. Her silver eyes reflect the light the stars shower upon her as she gazes at each and every one of them, almost trying to find a difference in any of them. And her small hand, calloused from outdoor play and the like, reaches up to the sky. Qrow and Yang sit slightly confused as Ruby stands frozen like this for seconds on end, before a motion catches both of their attention. Ruby's waving. She's waving to the stars.
"Hi Momma..." Ruby might have as well whispered with how reverent and soft the two words were. Despite the lack of response, she continues waving, gazing at a star that neither Yang nor Qrow can discern with the countless other similar ones dotting the sky. But that doesn't matter much to them because for the first time that night, a small smile adorns the young rose's face, a smile that only seems to grow more as she waves harder towards the starry sky, seemingly determined to get a response.
As this goes on, Yang turns to Qrow. His own eyes tracing the scene with a sad but gentle smile on his face, before his eyes catch up with Yang's. Yang can feel her own weak smile fixed on her face at the sight of her younger sister's smile. A smile she thought she may never see again, and she may not. She knows this moment won't last forever, it would be cruel to keep Ruby under the impression that Summer could actually hear her anymore, she would have to tell her eventually that it just wasn't possible anymore. But she understands why Qrow did this... to provide them with something, anything in terms of comfort. And she could never repay him for it, getting to see Ruby smile again was something she could never put a value on. But, she can promise to sneak him extra cookies the next time Ruby's birthday rolls around.
But, who knows, maybe what Qrow said is true... just not in the way he means it. Perhaps, Summer is watching over them, and letting her love guide them. After all, Summer loved all of them. Yang knew that much, so who's to say that them looking out for each other, isn't Summer's way of doing the same.