Chapter 77

Breakfast was more lively than expected. Brave faces were put on by all, and the topics of conversation stayed well away from the previous day's unpleasantness. Even Ruby managed a few genuine smiles, though she was still notably more downcast than usual. At some point before the end of the meal, Nora wandered off to go to the bathroom, but did not come back. It took a little time, but Pyrrha noticed her absence. After her call from the night before, Pyrrha was acutely aware of how hard the situation was hitting Nora. When informed that Summer was heading to Atlas with Winter, Nora looked positively shocked. Now was not the time to leave her alone, even if that seemed to be her desire.

"I'm sorry, Ren, do you know where Nora is?" Pyrrha interrupted a conversation she had not really been paying attention to.

"Oh...she's probably in the toy room." Ren replied, his feigned smile melting away. "That's where she goes when she's...troubled."

"I'll go check on her." Pyrrha volunteered. Ren nodded, and Yang gave a supportive glance. After dropping her plate off at the kitchen sink, Pyrrha headed to the aforementioned toy room. She gently knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Nora asked from within, her voice more subdued than usual.

"Pyrrha." She answered. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah, alright." Nora responded.

Pyrrha took a deep breath and opened the door. She was not quite ready for the sight that confronted her. Nora was lying on the bed, surrounded by a terrifying quantity of stuffed animals. The jokes about Nora's collection did not nearly convey its extent. She could see why they made Jaune nervous. They made her nervous. There were literal hundreds. Still, Nora looked comfortable, snuggled in the pile, her slight moves sending some plushies off the edges of the bed and onto the floor, purple dragon hugged tightly to her chest. "Mind if I...join you?" Pyrrha requested nervously.

"Sure, there's plenty of room." Nora replied, plastering on a smile.

Pyrrha made her way over gingerly, careful not to step on any of the fallen toys until she reached a point where they blanketed the floor. She paused at the bedside for a moment, not quite sure how to approach the pile, but eventually decided to just fall into it, quickly sinking into the assemblage of stuffed animals as more spilled off the side. "This is...comfy."

"Yeah, I really love the feeling." Nora agreed.

"Jaune's doll creeps me out a little though." Pyrrha admitted, nodding toward the sex robot, upright and unblinking in a nearby chair.

"Same...maybe it's the eyes." Nora suggested.

"I don't know if it blinking would be better or worse." Pyrrha joked.

"Ooh...there's an idea for a horror movie." Nora grinned, genuinely this time. "Attack of the Killer Sexbot!"

The pair shared a brief chuckle before falling silent. "Nora...are you okay?" Pyrrha finally asked.

"Nope." Nora replied.

"Would you like to talk about it?" Pyrrha pressed.

"Maybe?" Nora shrugged. "I don't know."

"I know it's hard, it's hard for me too, but we have to believe everything will be alright." Pyrrha encouraged.

"I'm just really nervous, you know?" Nora sighed. "Summer was gonna' help me with the baby. I have no idea what I'm doing. Seriously, everything I do know, I got from her. With her in Atlas…"

"She's just a call away." Pyrrha noted. "I'm sure she'll still do everything she can to help."

"I know, but it's not the same as being there." Nora countered.

"Yang and I will be here for you." Pyrrha offered. "So will Ren and Jaune."

"Yeah, and I really appreciate that." Nora nodded. "I just...that's not the only thing. Summer's like the only mom I ever had. My mom died before I can remember, and my dad...well, the less said about him the better. Ren's parents were nice when they were around, but I wouldn't exactly call them loving...more like friendly. But Summer, she was always there, always loving. I can't believe that all this time she's been lying...I thought she was perfect, an angel."

"I know how you feel...I felt the same way." Pyrrha agreed. "I guess I still do in a way. I know she did a terrible thing, but that doesn't take away from all the good she's done. Does it?"

"I don't know." Nora admitted. "And it's so hard...with everyone taking sides. Yang's so angry, and Ruby's so sad. I feel like it's tearing our big happy family apart. I guess we're not such a big happy family anymore."

"No, I guess not." Pyrrha frowned.

The two sat in silence for some time, contemplating the situation. "Pyrrha?" Nora finally piped up.

"Yes?" Pyrrha responded.

"Do you wanna' hold Chai for a while?" Nora offered, holding out the dragon plushie.

Pyrrha hesitated. "Uh...sure." She took the toy and hugged it to her chest. "I can see why you come here when you're feeling down. It's hard to stay sad in a place like this."

"Yeah, that's the idea but…" Nora trailed off.

"It's not working for you either, is it?" Pyrrha suggested.

Nora heaved a heavy sigh. "Nope."

"Would you like to cuddle?" Pyrrha asked.

Nora hardly hesitated. "Please."

After breakfast, Qrow took his leave, sharing a long hug with Ruby, promising to be back later. The first stop was his hotel room, a long hot shower and a change of clothes woke him up better than any amount of pancakes could. Refreshed and invigorated, he jumped back into his rental, and headed for his second, and ultimate destination: the home shared by Glynda and Raven.

Yeah, this was going to be rough, but Qrow was determined to see it through. He and Raven had suffered through a lot together, a shitty childhood, delinquent teenage years, and a more than stressful early adulthood. All the way they had stuck together, Qrow had even supported her when she ran away, if only to make sure she was safe. He had been the only one she trusted with her location. And her belongings. That DVD collection was worth its weight in gold to Raven.

The steady destruction of their relationship was one of the more painful things in Qrow's life, somewhere between losing Tai's respect and that stinger to the gut. At least the stinger only had him high as a kite for a few days. Though Raven and Qrow had always been abrasive toward one another, that had not changed the fact that they were siblings, they loved each other, they were all they had until Tai and Summer came along, just them alone against the world. And then Summer tore them apart. Or rather, a series of mistakes and bad fortune led Summer to tear them apart. God this was complex.

He soon found himself pulled up in front of the house, the same house Raven had shared with Glynda for nearly a decade now. Time flies, except not really. He felt far older than thirty eight as he approached the front door, and gently rapped on its surface. Not half a minute later, it was opened, by Glynda. "Qrow?" She exclaimed in shock.

"Hey Glynda, how's it goin'?" He smirked.

Glynda sighed, stepping outside and closing the door over. "Tensely. Raven is not in the best place right now." She said wearily.

Qrow dropped his smirk into a grimace. "What did she do?"

"She punched a mirror." Glynda replied.

"Again?" Qrow asked.

"She's done this before?" Glynda balked.

"Bad habit of hers, and I get the bad luck." Qrow joked. "Was it bad this time?"

"She suffered moderate blood loss, and she's going to have some scars, but at the very least she bandaged herself...before taking a bloody nap." Glynda pinched her brow, screwing her face up in irritation. "Qrow, what the fuck happened?"

"What did Raven say?" Qrow asked.

"That you told the truth, Summer lied, it was all her idea and not yours, and then Ruby ran away." Glynda answered. "Is she okay?"

"Ruby's fine." Qrow nodded. "She ended up at the Valkyries'. Most of us are over there now."

"Good, good...and the two of you are?" Glynda pressed.

"We're okay...as okay as we can be at least." Qrow sighed.

"And what of Summer?" Glynda inquired.

"Yang says Winter's taking care of her." Qrow replied. "Yang nearly laid her out."

"What did she do instead?" Glynda asked.

"Broke the dining table with her prosthetic, hell of a stress test for the new parts." Qrow said.

"That wasn't funny." Glynda admonished.

"Who's laughing?" Qrow blanked. Raven's muffled laughter suddenly sounded from within. Glynda could not help but smile at the sound. "Well at least she is."

"I take it you came here to speak with her?" Glynda suggested.

"If she's up for it." Qrow confirmed.

"At this point I'd wager she'd be up for anything." Glynda chuckled. "Those painkillers have done wonders for her mood."

"Hah, last time she just got drunk, then made me pick all the shards out of her hand with tweezers while she bitched and moaned." Qrow reminisced. "She was never a fan of hospitals."

"Replace bitching and moaning with begging for food and you're on the right track." Glynda opened the door, allowing Qrow inside before shutting it behind him. He did not have to walk far to find his sister, half-splayed on the couch, a large burger held in her unbandaged hand, the other cradled carefully against her stomach. She faced the television, with a glazed over look in her eyes, joyful in their levity, some cartoon anime playing, much to her mirth. "I'll give you some privacy."

"Cheers." Qrow shot a grin at Glynda before entering the room.

At first, Raven did not notice Qrow as he leaned against the back of the couch, observing the kiddy anme that was playing. Then she looked up and smiled. "Hey."

"Hey." Qrow responded.

"Wanna' burger?" Raven offered. "I got like...ten?" She took another bite of the one in her hand, gesturing towards the bag on the coffee table.

"Sure, hit me." Qrow was not really hungry, but it had been years since Raven had smiled at him. He would have eaten from the palm of her hand if she asked. Instead he circled the couch, flopping down beside her as she clumsily fumbled with the bag, before pulling out a wrapped burger and handing it to him. "Cheers." Unwrapping the burger, he took notice of what Raven was watching. "I thought you hated chibi."

"Eh." Raven grunted. "I do, but these're...they're cute, and maybe the drugs are makin' me like 'em more."

"Why do you have it though?" Qrow asked.

"Glyn didn't know, bought it for Solstice one year...she really tries, ya'know?" Raven replied.

"People have to try for us Rave, we're difficult people." Qrow chuckled.

Raven snickered. "Yeah, yeah we've got brain problems."

"We're dumb." Qrow stated.

"Super dumb." Raven agreed.

"The dumbest." Qrow confirmed.

"We're not great." Raven stated.

"Super not great." Qrow agreed.

"The not greatest." Raven confirmed.

"You're dumber-er though." Qrow teased.

"Yeah…" Raven sighed.

"But that's fine, I still love ya'." Qrow smiled.

"You do?" Raven asked.

"Course I do, you're my big sis." Qrow nodded. "I'll always love you."

"Even after I treated you like shit?" Raven pressed.

"What can I say, your masochism rubbed off on me." Qrow smirked.

"Fuck off." Raven laughed.

"You remember the last time you broke a mirror?" Qrow asked.

"Yeah, that was fun." Raven said.

"Not long after you had Yang if I remember right." Qrow continued. "Smash, I run into the bathroom, mirror's shattered, you're staring at your bloody fist, and you say to me, 'that was fucking dumb.'"

"It hurt." Raven whined.

"And you didn't want to go to the ER like a normal person, so here I am picking shards of glass out of your knuckles, while you down a bottle of whiskey." Qrow laughed.

"My memory stopped about the fifth shot." Raven noted.

"You're an insufferable drunk." Qrow complained.

"As if you're much better." Raven scoffed.

"I didn't make someone sit down and watch some crappy anime about guys fucking!" Qrow accused.

"You're bisexual!" Raven countered.

"I like men, manly men, not women with dicks." Qrow shot back.

"Have you looked in a mirror lately?" Raven teased.

"Hey, I'm rugged." Qrow defended. "Not a girly bone in my body!"

"Oh yeah?" Raven's eyes lit up as the trap was sprung. "And what about that skirt you liked so much?"

"Tai said it was a kilt!" Qrow shouted. "It was plaid! How was I supposed to know?"

"The fact that I was wearing the same skirt you big gir-" Whap! Raven was cut off by a couch pillow to the face. "Hey-" Whap! Another couch pillow.

"I've got like four of these things, you wanna' keep going?" Qrow threatened, holding a third pillow in his hand.

Raven stuck out her tongue, so lethargic from the painkillers that she barely had the energy to flip him the bird. Qrow chuckled, dropping the pillow to take a bite of his burger. "Is Ruby okay?" Raven suddenly asked, staring blankly ahead.

"Yeah, she ended up at the Valkyries'." Qrow replied.

"And?" Raven pressed.

"She's okay." Qrow insisted. "We're okay." Qrow could not help the dumb grin that spread across his face. For years, he had been perfectly aware that should the day come, Ruby might reject him. It used to scare him shitless, but by the time the moment came, he was more frightened by her forgiveness. It meant he had to live up to it. He could not let her down.

"She didn't lose her shit at us?" Raven asked.

"No, just panicked." Qrow shook his head. "She isn't happy we lied to her, but it's mostly Summer she's focused on."

"So she doesn't hate me?" Raven's lip quivered.

"I doubt it." Qrow shrugged. "I don't think she even hates Summer. I don't think she's ever hated anyone before."

"And what about Yang?" Raven asked.

"Maybe a little closer to hate." Qrow admitted. "Beating herself up more than anything. She's put two and two together about Tai."

"Ah...shit." Raven sighed.

"Yeah, this is all a big clusterfuck for sure." Qrow nodded.

"You're tellin' me...I just…" Raven yawned, eyes dropping. "This fucking sucks Qrow. That bitch lied to me, after everything, she lied to me...was I ever worth anything to her?"

"She's not heartless Rave." Qrow observed. "Just...made some dumb decisions, and then doubled down on them."

"Why did we have to suffer for them?" Raven asked.

"Because the kids were more important." Qrow replied. "If we could do anything to keep things normal for them, we did it. Through everything, that was the one damn thing that kept us going. And shit as it was, I think we made the most of the hands we were dealt."

"You really believe that?" Raven challenged.

"What's the alternative?" Qrow countered. "Every decision was bad with no redeeming qualities?"

"Sure comes off that way sometimes." Raven groaned.

"Maybe." Qrow shrugged. "But I'm gonna' go ahead and be selfish for once, and say fuck that noise."

Everyone gathered around the TV as Yang, Ruby, Nora and Jaune faced off, battling for supremacy in a colorful cart racing game. It was a game they all enjoyed playing, but it was only made for four players, so they had to take turns. Each race, the bottom two finishers would pass off their controllers. The high level of randomness built into the game ensured that everyone had their turn at the back of the pack. This time Nora and Ruby were the bottom two, with Yang taking a close victory over Jaune.

"Oh well." Ruby shrugged with a smile. She passed the controller to Blake before hopping up off the couch. "I'm gonna' grab a drink."

A far more dejected Nora passed her controller to Ren, but he immediately passed it on to Pyrrha, heading to the kitchen after Ruby. There he found Ruby standing before the refrigerator, scanning the multitude of options for the drink she desired. "Looking for something specific?" Ren asked.

"No, not really." Ruby shook her head. She spotted a colorful, carbonated juice drink and grabbed a can. "Just had some trouble deciding." Beverage in hand, she started to walk back toward the lounge.

"Hold on a second." Ren stepped in front of Ruby, not blocking her but making it clear that he wanted a word in private.

"What's up Ren?" Ruby asked cheerfully.

"Are you okay?" Ren asked.

"Yeah." Ruby replied. She took a step toward the door.

"Wait." Ren insisted. "You've been acting awfully...well, happy."

"So?" Ruby asked.

"So...you're not happy." Ren explained. "You've been putting on a facade of excess cheerfulness to disguise the pain you're feeling." Ruby was about to protest. "Nora does it all the time. I can see the signs."

"It's alright, really." Ruby insisted. "Sure, it's been...really rough lately, but everyone's been supporting me, and I've got a dad again, so it's not all bad."

"And what about Summer?" Ren pressed.

Ruby frowned for just a moment before hastily forcing a smile. "I'm obviously not happy with her, and it's gonna' be tough to forgive her, but that's just something I have to work at."

"She's your mother, she's cared for you all your life." Ren persisted. "Learning she lied like this must be...very painful. If you want to talk, or you just need to vent, know that I'm here for you."

"Ren, I'll be fine." Ruby assured him. Her smile was a little weaker, but still present as she patted him on the shoulder. After looking one another in the eye for a moment, she slipped past him, heading back into the lounge. Ren stood there for a few seconds, leaned against the counter and sighed.