Chapter 21

Qrow could tell when he was not wanted. As much as he enjoyed teasing Winter - and would have liked to tease her a little more - he knew Yang's threats were not empty, and continued misbehavior would see him on the receiving end of a solid punch. He took in the room. He forgot what they called it. Yang had surely told him, but he was probably distracted by Summer, that little cutie. Whatever it was called, it was the place where they took pictures, but all the equipment had been packed away to make room for tables and a sound system.

On a nearby couch sat Pyrrha and Blake. Velvet and Sun stood to the side, chatting with a tall, dark skinned buff guy with green hair. Nora - with Summer perched on her shoulders - gesticulated and talked rapidly and excitedly to Blake, Pyrrha and a pale, red haired...guy? Was that a guy? Probably. Maybe he was being sexist. Mel...Melissa?...walked past him with a plate of food, glancing at him before slipping into a side room. He heard Raven's voice from inside, so he grabbed a plate of food for himself - God he loved chicken nuggets - and followed Mel in.

Pushing through the door, Qrow found himself in what seemed to be the breakroom. Benches and cupboards lined one wall, a large, round table took up half the room to his right, and two couches and a coffee table were to the left, occupied by Glynda and Raven with Mel sitting opposite. "Hey jackass, you actually came." Raven called to him.

Qrow resisted cracking the obvious joke as he circled the couch, dropping down next to the goth chick. "Rave, outta' the dungeon I see." Qrow smirked. Raven tossed one of her nuggets at him. He caught it easily, grinning before popping it into his mouth.

"Children, behave." Glynda admonished.

"We're barely younger than you." Qrow observed. Qrow never had asked Glynda about her age, though she probably would have just glared at him in response anyway.

"Age does not equal maturity." Glynda countered.

Pfft, maturity was overrated. Qrow thought. Better immature than a killjoy.

"Have you given everyone here therapy?" Melanie asked.

"More or less." Glynda and Raven replied in unison.

"Jinx." Melanie waved her drink. "You owe me a rum and coke."

"Nmm!" Raven nearly choked mid swig. "Bad idea Mel. This one's a womanizer."

"Oh, I'm the womanizer?" Qrow asked, slapping a hand on his chest.

"Which one of us actually got married?" Raven challenged.

"Are we gonna' compare trainwrecks now?" Qrow shook his head, laughing.

"I had the integrity to try." Raven protested.

"And I had the sense to give up...before the third strike." Qrow taunted.

"So, what, you're gonna' survive off casual sex and porn for the rest of your life?" Raven pressed.

"It'll do me until someone worth a damn comes along, and it's not like I'm goin' from bar to bar, bangin' everyone in sight." Qrow defended himself. "I haven't slept with anyone in three months, Rave."

Raven managed a surprised look. "You're shittin' me?" She asked.

"Why would I lie about not getting laid?" Qrow countered.

"Because you're a weirdo who's fulla' shit." Raven answered.

"It's genetic." Qrow scoffed.

"Then mum jumped the fence for you." Raven joked.

"You wish." Qrow chuckled.

"I think that's quite enough." Glynda cut in.

"I think things should escalate." Melanie suggested.

"Melanie." Glynda glared at her.

Melanie, wouldn't have guessed that. Qrow thought. There was that smirk again. Goth chicks like leather, right?

"Fine, I'm going to see Yang." Raven declared. She stood and threw another nugget at Qrow as she passed. He did not bother to dodge it, and just sat there struggling not to laugh. Melanie looked amused and in his peripheral he could see Glynda just roll her eyes.

"You bring out the worst in each other." Glynda sighed as she got up.

"Guilty pleasure." Qrow raised his beer in toast.

Glynda scoffed. "Try not to corrupt Melanie." She shook her head before heading off after Raven.

"Why am I the enemy?" Qrow asked. "She started it?"

"Eat your nuggets Qrow." Glynda commanded.

Qrow scowled. Of course he would eat his nuggets. He loved the fucking things. He spotted Melanie pilfering one from his plate while he was distracted. "Enjoying the party?" He asked. Qrow fixed her with an amused look. Melanie bit into the nugget, like it was a chocolate bar in a commercial. God damnit, he loved red lipstick.

"Your sister's hot." Melanie declared.

"Yeah, she is." Qrow chuckled.

"Bitchy though." Melanie added. She swallowed, then popped the rest of the nugget into her mouth.

"That's Raven for ya'." Qrow smiled.

"Pity she's taken." Melanie noted.

"The fun ones usually are." Qrow sighed.

Melanie smiled, but not her normal smirk. That one was snarky, taunting and just a tad frosty. This one had some warmth to it. Qrow could see it approaching her eyes. It felt good to be honest. "Wanna' bitch about life?" She finally asked. "Everyone else here is all happy and shit."

Qrow chuckled, holding his paper plate towards her. "Sounds like fun."

A few hours later, the party was in full swing. Blake had painted Nora's stomach like a watermelon - much to everyone's amusement - and Summer like a kitten - much to everyone's adoration. Blake's parents had joined them, Ghira ending up deep in political conversation with Winter and Glynda, Kali joining Nora in entertaining Summer. Every now and then Yang would spot Qrow or Melanie emerging from the break room to grab more snacks or beer before heading right back in, and right about the point Blake and Raven started breakdancing drunkenly, Ghira and Kali slipped away.

Yang checked her phone for what felt like the hundredth time that night, sighing in irritation as she was suddenly aware of an urge. She tapped Winter on the shoulder. "Just gonna' go the the bathroom, okay?" She said. Winter swayed a little, nodding, somehow finding a graceful response to the heavy techno beat. Yang pecked her on the cheek before leaving, making her way out of the studio and into one of the back halls.

Turning the corner, Yang became aware of a dull thumping that slowly grew louder as she walked. When she realized where she was Yang grinned, slowing down and edging along as she saw the sexbox door shaking slightly. The thumping grew louder, she heard a crack, the door jutted out slightly, with one more thump, an audible yelp, the door came loose of its hinges, falling to the ground. It was followed by Kali and Ghira, who just managed to catch himself before landing on his wife.

"Playin' it safe guys?" Yang smirked. Their gazes snapped to her. Kali blushed and hid her face while Ghira looked like a deer in the headlights. Yang glanced down to see Kali's top pushed up, and respectfully turned away, chuckling. "Damn guys, didn't expect this. I'm impressed."

"Sorry." Kali squeaked.

"Oh, don't be sorry." Yang waved her off. "The sexbox exists for a reason!"

"Nora said it was okay." Kali explained.

Yang glanced back. Kali and Ghira were now standing, clothes back in order, though their faces were beet red. "And it's fine, none of us would have expected that." Yang grinned.

"I'll pay for the damages." Ghira offered.

Yang stepped past the couple, picking up the door and leaning it against the frame. "Eh, I can fix it." Yang declared. "Ya' know, costume storage is also pretty comfy...if you guys wanna' finish."

"Oh, uh, I-" Ghira started.

"Sounds good to me!" Kali cut in. She grabbed her husband's hand and began to hobble away, flustered but grinning.

Yang chuckled before examining the door. Cheap, short screws seemed to be the problem. A man like Ghira going to pound town on these was a recipe for disaster. Yang was surprised that Nora and Sun had not broken it already. Perhaps they had loosened it. It was an easy fix, but right now Yang's need to urinate was extreme. She rushed to the bathroom and answered nature's call.

Yang washed her hands, drying them on a nearby towel before looking at her reflection in the bathroom's large mirror. She was definitely getting older, laugh lines were starting to become visible, as well as subtle creases beside her eyes. Once this would have bothered her. She was far more vain as a teenager than she was now. The only thing she really feared for was her hair. Winter loved Yang's hair, often stroking it when they relaxed together, washing it thoroughly when they showered together, burying her face in it when they spooned, breathing the gentle scent of Yang's citrus shampoo. Winter often called her beautiful. No, she did not call her beautiful, she stated it, like an undeniable fact, a law of nature.

Yang had been called many things, both kind and otherwise, and as a teen she often felt empowered by this. But as she grew, she realized people were rarely so genuine. Many were jealous, or covetous, viewing her as a potential rival or conquest. Many defined her by appearance alone, and that scared Yang, even more so when she looked inward. Her grades were average, she had difficulty concentrating, and her short temper often landed her in trouble.

Her choice to not pursue higher education in favor of taking care of Ruby had not been a difficult one. To Yang, her future lay in practical applications, where she earned her best grades. Carpentry, mechanics, culinary arts, and physical education were her strengths. They were skills she had been taught by Summer and Taiyang, skills she valued, both for the memories they held, and how useful they had come to be over the years.

Taiyang sucked at cooking, unless it was barbeque, so when Summer passed it fell to Yang, who spent hours memorizing the recipes in Summer's cookbooks. She still read through them from time to time. Both during Taiyang's depression, and after his death, Yang realized just how much work he did around the house, how much money was saved by doing their own repairs. She shuddered to imagine how much her old bike would have cost to maintain. Being able to do for herself was fulfilling and gave her a sense of independence. It was particularly so when she was able to step up and be a mother to Ruby, a breadwinner even, so that Ruby did not have to worry about the stability of their lives. Yang could do it, she could take care of them, everything would be alright. She could do this.

But everything went wrong, and piece by piece, Yang's life had crumbled around her, hitting rock bottom just as Qrow showed up to wish her a happy birthday. That was a hell of a bounce, and she got just enough air from it to almost feel better about herself, but the pressures of her emotions, the debt, and her stressful and unfulfilling job dragged her back down. Once, years prior, Yang would have hit on Winter, turned the insult into a snarky retort, but everyone has their breaking point, and Yang had been well past hers. For a depressed, drunk chick, Winter took the punch like a champ. She went down, but was not out, and it had not been a gentle punch. She did not even seem to bruise, though that could have just been the makeup.

Yang still found it hard to believe that a single punch had essentially saved her life. Going by how she had felt returning home that night, she was probably a few months, hell, a few weeks off walking into the ocean and drowning herself. It would have been easiest that way. There would be no mess left to clean up, and it would be quick, just one big breath of water and it would all be over. She had just been so tired, so incredibly done with her life. She had tried, Maidens she had tried, and for a time things had looked bright. Glynda was an incredible woman, often times simply holding her as she cried, venting her anguish as it resurfaced. Blake, Velvet, Nora, Sun and Pyrrha were all good friends, and being able to relate to them made Yang feel so much less alone. But when they were not around, when Yang had suffered through her job, or lay alone in her shitty apartment, the darkness closed in, and with it, the pain. They were not Ruby. They did not give her life meaning.

In Winter she had found a truly kindred spirit, a woman whose fresh wounds mirrored her own scars, who ventured out of her element, into a neighborhood ripped from a slasher film, to confront a woman who likely as not would have attacked her on sight, leaving her black and blue, or worse. Knowing Winter, she would have accepted that without a fight. But Winter had given Yang a reason to live. First it was to help her, to steer her away from Yang's current state. Then, as she fell, it had been to make her proud, to be worthy of Winter's love.

It had not always been easy. There were still times when their minds wandered to darker places, but they always pulled through, even kicking and screaming on occasion. Anniversaries were the hardest. Weiss and Ruby's graves were incredibly painful to behold, even years later, but bit by bit, year by year, they healed, they loved, and they lived. And now here Yang was, standing in the luxury bathroom of a modeling studio, surrounded by friends, by family, alive and well, with a beautiful daughter, Ruby's daughter, Summer Rose...Xiao-Long...Schnee...poor girl. If she did not have some sort of identity crisis it would be a miracle.

What a time and place to be retrospective? Yang thought. Ghira and Kali were probably in the midst of an orgasmic daze a few rooms away, Blake and Raven were lost in drunken giggles, someone was definitely recording, and whatever the hell Qrow and Melanie were doing in the breakroom. Whatever it was they kept coming out for food and drink, so at least she knew their mouths were occupied. Pyrrha had looked to be nodding off and Nora would surely burn out sometime soon. Sun was always tired these days, though he hid it as best he could. Between two pregnant women and his job, Yang was surprised he had the energy to party, let alone chase after Nora.

Yang's phone vibrated. She hastily pulled it free of her pants pocket. A grin grew on her face as she read the text message. Flashing a smile at her reflection, Yang hurried from the room.