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As long as Ruby can remember, Yang has always been there. She was there to tuck her into bed at night and there to help her make breakfast in the morning. She was there to teach her how to read or how to tie her shoelaces. She was there to hold Ruby when she woke up from nightmares and there to dry her tears when she fell down and hurt herself. There is not a single significant moment of Ruby’s childhood in her mind that Yang is not a part of.
Ruby remembers the moment when she realized that this wasn’t normal, that an older sibling was not meant to take care of all those things that Yang had to do. She was six-years-old and once again trailing after Yang, like most days. Usually her and Yang would play in their house or out in their backyard, but today Yang was heading further out into the center of the town. The girls had heard from their father yesterday that there were a couple of families with children staying in Patch this week. Visitors were rare on a small island such as theirs and Yang wanted to enjoy getting to play with some new kids when she could. So when the older girl had left their house that morning, Ruby had followed her.
At the park Yang had noticed a gathering of mostly unfamiliar kids and stopped by to introduce herself. Ruby noticed that the children were older than her but about Yang's own age. The younger girl had tagged along, curious but a little intimidated, staying a few feet away from the other kids.
Yang had tried to get Ruby to be a part of the game but the younger girl was just too shy, and the other kids didn’t particularly try to include her. Eventually Ruby noticed one of the kids taking something out of their backpack and showing it to the rest of the group, and her curiosity got the better of her. She gathered her courage, tiptoed over to stand next to the other kids and looked at what they were doing.
One of the children had a Scroll with them, an actual working Scroll. Ruby had never seen a child have one before, only adults like their dad and uncle Qrow. Without really even thinking about it, Ruby reached her hand out towards the Scroll. The boy holding the device slapped Ruby’s hand aside before the girl could even touch it.
“What do you think you’re doing!” The boy’s full attention was on Ruby, his eyes filled with anger.
“I, I just wanted to look at it,” Ruby mumbled softly, pulling her hand to her chest like she‘d been burned.
“No one gave you permission to touch it. We didn’t even invite you here.”
“Hey, she didn’t mean any harm,” Yang came to Ruby’s rescue, placing a comforting hand on her sister’s shoulder. “You don’t have to be a jerk.”
The boy turned his eyes on Yang, an even angrier look on his face. “She could have broken it! Do you have any idea how expensive Scrolls are?”
Ruby could feel the situation escalating and put her hands out placatingly. “I’m really sorry, please stop fighting.”
“We’re not fighting, you baby,” one of the other kids said, rolling their eyes.
“Yeah, come on, Yang, why’d you take the baby with you? We can’t play like this.”
The boy with the Scroll gave Ruby an annoyed look and then turned to Yang. “Just send the baby back home to mommy so we can get back to playing.”
One of the kids gasped, probably the girl living closest to their house and who knew their family situation. Ruby felt tears gathering in her eyes and bit her cheek to stop the tears from falling. For a few seconds it was quiet, nobody moving or saying anything. Then Yang let out a roar and stormed at the boy.
Everything that followed seemed to happen in a daze. Ruby remembers Yang’s eyes turning red, she remembers at least one of the children crying out, she remembers one of them hitting the ground. She thinks she remembers seeing blood. She doesn’t know how long she just stood there, paralyzed, watching everything going on around her as if in slow motion. She could feel her blood pumping in her ears, in addition to all the other noises around her, and tried to cover her ears against it all.
The next thing she realized was that there were a lot of strange adults around them. Somebody was yelling, and Ruby remembers clinging to Yang, frightened. Yang’s hands had scrapes on them but they were warm as she wrapped them around Ruby.
“That girl is dangerous, what is she doing running loose!” Screamed a red faced man.
“She can’t be even ten-years-old and the other looks barely five. Where are their parents?” A timid looking woman had asked, pointing towards Ruby and Yang.
“They’re Taiyang Xiao Long’s children,” came the answer from one of the adults gathered around, and Ruby remembers that almost all of the adults had gotten a weird look on their faces. One of them took the screaming man aside and they started speaking in a hushed tone, occasionally stealing glances towards the sisters.
After that, a pair of adults, a man and a woman, came up to Yang and Ruby and took them aside. After checking them over briefly the pair escorted the sisters to a car. Ruby had been scared and refused to let go of Yang even as the woman tried to get them seated in separate seats. Eventually she gave up and joined the man at the front of the car. Then the car started moving and they were taken to an unfamiliar room in an unfamiliar building, and some other adults tried to separate them again. Ruby had screamed and clung to her sister even harder, but it wasn’t until Yang broke the wrist of one of the people who tried to separate them that the girls were finally left alone.
The room was small, furnished with a small circular table, four chairs around it and a large pale green carpet covering the floor. Taking up most of the wall space was a large mirror. Yang sat down on one of the chairs and pulled Ruby up next to her. The younger girl buried her face into Yang’s clothes, and Yang once again wrapped her arms around Ruby.
“Everything’s okay, Ruby. I will never let anybody hurt you.” The words soothed Ruby, same as the familiar feeling of her sister’s arms wrapped protectively around her.
Eventually the door opened and three unfamiliar adults came into the room, followed by their father. Ruby can’t recall fully all that went on during the conversation - she was tired and there were a lot of difficult words being used - but she remembers one of the strangers demanding that her and Yang be sent to live somewhere else, remembers the person claiming that they aren’t being taken care of.
At first she doesn’t understand; Yang takes such good care of her, what could they possibly mean. Then it dawns on her; they aren’t talking about her, they are talking about both of them. Yang might be making sure that Ruby eats properly and goes to sleep on time and has all that she needs, but who is doing the same for Yang? For the first time in her life Ruby sees Yang not as her infallible big sister, but as another child not much older than herself. Ruby closes her eyes and clings to Yang even harder, afraid of what will happen when she’ll have to let go.
The conversation goes on and on for a long time. At some point Ruby nods off, and wakes up when her father is gathering her into his arms. She begins to fret, crying out for Yang.
“Shh, I’m right here, Ruby,” Yang appears next to her and takes her hand in her own. “We’re going home now, everything is okay. You can sleep if you want to.”
But Ruby isn’t convinced, clinging to Yang’s hand and refusing to let go.
“Ruby, you have to let go so your sister can walk properly,” their father tries to reason with her, but to no avail.
She hears their father sigh, and the man sets his steps to Yang’s pace so Ruby can hold her hand while they begin their walk home. It’s an uncomfortable journey, Ruby hanging halfway down their father’s chest so she can reach her hand down towards Yang, who is holding her own arm high up to reach Ruby’s hand. However, nobody complains: in fact nobody even speaks throughout the entire way home.
By the time they get home, it’s already past Ruby’s bedtime. Yang drags Ruby with her to take a bath and after that they both get into their beds. Ruby, who had been falling half asleep during their bath suddenly feels wide awake. She can’t help the uncomfortable thought swimming around in her head. Eventually she had gathered enough courage and asked Yang if she wished she could be like other children, instead of being stuck taking care of her. Yang had gotten out of her bed, fast as lightning, climbed into Ruby’s bed next to her and hugged the younger girl to her chest.
“Never,” the older girl promised. “There is nothing in the whole wide world that I would trade you for. So don’t you ever think like that for even a second. I love you, and I will never let anyone tear us apart.”
Ruby had hugged her sister back with all the strength her small body could muster. There was nothing in the world that she would trade Yang for either. She might not have a mother anymore and her father might not be able to take care of her the way a parent should, but none of that mattered because she had a sister who would always be there for her, for their entire lives. And maybe one day, when she was old enough she could do the same for Yang.