Not believing in yourself doesn't mean you aren't a good person. Yang is reminded that and Taiyang has some important talks with everybody who needs one.

Chapter Text

After their picnic, once Flynt and Neon joined back with the group of teens, they decided to take advantage of the Xiao Long-Rose household, as well as the nearby beach. Allegedly, Coco's first dive in water caused her to moan in such a loud and erotic way, that the other swimmers kicked her out, forcing her to go swim away from everybody else. Velvet and Neon lounged in the sun, on towels as they decided to work on their tans, while Flynt, Fox, and Yatsuhashi made the dishes. Weiss and Blake, for their part, were grinning and blushing, while Yang was hiding her face behind her hands, redder than Ruby's cloak.

"And she also said that you are the most graceful woman ever!"

"Violet… please stop… Weiss, don't listen to her…" groaned Yang as she banged her head against the table that they sat at.

"Oh no, you don't! We want to know everything" said Blake, with a smirk, as they kept questioning Violet about what Yang had told about them throughout the months.

"Well… she also told me that she was the worst sist –"

"Ok, we're done! Violet, I'm bringing you home now." said Yang coldly as she stood up abruptly from her seat. They all stood still before Violet pouted and crossed her arms.

"But Yaaaaaaang!"

"No buts! Your mom will kill me if I don't bring you back soon and -" the blond woman trailed off as two hands rested on her left arm. She looked up and gazed at the pleading looks her teammates were giving her.

"Yang" began Blake, before the brawler removed her arm from their grasps "You are a wonderful and amazing sister."

"But I'm not" Yang muttered back, looking away in shame. She's stopped seeing herself as a good sister ever since Ruby woke up. She had been so cold and distant with her, she had ignored her dear little sister, her treasure in life. She knew that Ruby saw her as the sun, as a blazing ball of fire that could illuminate everything around her and make everything better. But in the few weeks that Ruby spent at home, Yang had been only a giant storm cloud that hid the sun and made everything bleaker. She had been the worst sister she could have been, especially after such a tragedy.

"Yang Xiao Long! Look at me!" said a new voice, making the girls jump in surprise and turn around, looking at the blond man and the two women that stood beside him. The man walked to Yang and grabbed her by the shoulders, looking her straight in the eyes before hugging her with all his strength. "Yang, you have been the best sister in the world since the death of Summer. You were five years old and you still managed to be a better parent than I ever was. So no, shut up. You are the best sister in the world and one of the two best daughters there is. Never forget that."

Taiyang slowly rubbed his daughter's back as he held her against him. He looked up and smiled at the two other young girls, before grabbing them by their hand and hugging them as well. The monochrome duo both made a little sound of surprise as they were pressed against the Xiao Long pair. Blushing, they returned the hug, making Taiyang smile fondly. After a few moments, everybody disengaged themselves from each other. Blake and Weiss looking away with a blush, Yang rolling her eyes with a smirk when she saw Violet give her two thumbs up. Taiyang however, kept his gaze locked on the two girls that stood before him, with a smile.

"You are both great women as well. I've spoken a few times with Ruby and Yang while you were all at Beacon and they didn't stop telling me how amazing you both are. You three, Yang Weiss, Blake, are a team with Ruby. She may not be here right now, but you have to make a decision about it. Will you let it pull you apart? Will you let the past drive you? Or will you grow closer from it? Will you live, day by day, while the past can't hold you down? Whatever you choose to do, never forget this. You are a team. You three, as well as Ruby, will be closer than with anybody else, maybe even than a husband or wife. You will develop a bond that will be stronger than anything. You will feel things that you have never felt for anybody else. Being a huntsman team means being closer with one another than with anybody else. So, as someone who has had to live with a team that broke… I don't wish this to you."

Slowly the girls nodded, looking at each other with various degrees of smiles before someone clearing its throat made them look around, where a smiling Penny and a grinning Neo stood. Seeing the ice cream colored girl made Blake tense and she grabbed her weapon on her back. In a fraction of a second, she dashed towards the psychotic woman, who smiled angrily and blocked the sword with her umbrella, lazily twirling into Blake's guard, winking at the cat faunus before spinning and kicking her away. Groaning in pain, Blake used her clone to propel herself towards the other woman and tried to stab her in the abdomen. As soon as her blade hit her opponent, however, she shattered against her sword and, an instant later, Blake was hit by the blunt end of the umbrella. Neo began to unsheathe her blade and, with a mad smile kept her gaze locked on Blake as she walked towards her.

"Neopolitan! Drop your weapon this instant!"

Tensing in surprise, with wide eyes, Neo let go of her weapon, turned around towards Taiyang who was glaring at her and she pouted. She pointed at Blake, then at herself, before raising her arms in the air in exasperation.

"Oh no, you don't like this towards me! Stop the sass now!"

Stomping her foot, she pressed her hands against her head before mimicking an explosion, glaring at the man in front of her.

"Oh please, stop being childish, she couldn't know that you weren't her enemy right now."

She pointed at Yang and Weiss, who were just dumbstruck at what was unfolding in front of them, before pointing at Blake and rolling her eyes.

"She acted on instinct, don't be a bitch about it."

As they kept their discussion (or whatever this could be described as) Yang and Weiss stood still, their eyes going from Taiyang to Neo when either of them was talking or miming.

"Did your father stopped her by… by…"

"By being a dad? Yeah, I'm just as surprised as you."

Slowly they walked towards Blake who had sat down to look at the exchange between the huntsman and the psychopath, mouth hanging as she tried to understand what was going on. She looked at Yang who was grinning weakly.

"What's the matter kitty cat?"

"Care to explain to me what's going on?"

Yang snorted and crossed her arms, before looking at Weiss who simply rolled her eyes before nodding. Yang smiled and looked back at her partner, her grin still present. "Well, long story short, Weiss flew away from dear old daddy with the help of Neon and Flynt, taking Penny with them, ice cream lady gave back the half of Ember Celica that was…" her smile faltered as she reminded herself where the second half of her weapon had been and why it was there. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, gulped back her emotions and she braced herself for a moment before going again. "At Beacon, then she went with Penny and Dad to gain and control information spreading in Vale, while Weiss and I spent all week here, training and doing some housework."

Nodding slowly, Blake looked at the bickering duo as Yang and Weiss sat against her. The heiress laid her hand on Blake's left hand, while Yang did the same with the right one. Blushing, Blake made a content sigh, her eyes moving between the two women beside her, two of the people she cared the most about.

"You know… there's nothing like being home… like being with you. Even if we're missing the dolt." said Weiss, making the two other girls raise an eyebrow. "Well, I mean… I have a family, I have a home, but none of them ever felt real to me. Well, except for Winter. She's the only one that I ever felt like she cared about me. But in truth, You two, with Ruby and maybe even to an extent, JNPR, are my home now, my family. Not the SDC, not the Mansion or anybody else."

Yang hummed in agreement, smiling softly she simply looked at the two other women. They stayed like this, getting comfort from each other in silence, for what felt like an eternity for Yang, but she was quickly brought back to the real world when she heard Blake speak.

"Shouldn't we… you know, try to stop them?" she asked, as she looked at Neopolitan and Taiyang now fighting each other, while Penny simply looked at them, facepalming as Violet slowly patted her back, giggling.

Yang laughed and shrugged as she grabbed the two other smaller women and held them against her, flaring her semblance slightly, just enough to create a warm aura around them, just to make the two women ease into her embrace, just enough to be in a blissful state of content. Yang didn't want to do something, she didn't want to think, to act. She simply wanted to relax, to be with her two favorite persons out of her family, with two of the people she loved the most. Because she knew that they all had to speak about the last few months, about how they felt about each other. Especially about how they felt about Blake having run away again. They had to speak about their feelings and Yang didn't want to do any of this right now. They had to talk about what they would do next, but Yang only wanted to feel at peace, if only for a little while longer. Because right now wasn't speaking time. Right now, it was snuggling time.

"So… what… how…" sighed Taiyang as he looked at the group of ten young adults spread around his living room and kitchen. Yang was arm wrestling with Yatsuhashi on the kitchen table, two stacks of lien showing that the giant was the favorite with 8:3 odds. Blake was in the living room, with Neon, Coco, and Velvet as they listened to Penny explain her "rebirth", while Weiss Flynt and Fox were busy making the dishes. "How will you manage for tonight?"

Yang shrugged as her brow furrowed, actually struggling against the giant. She was using her left arm, her non-dominant arm and, unlike her opponent, she didn't train or fight much in the las few months. Tai Rolled his eyes with a smile, before heading out, to join back with Neo, sitting on the porch, looking at the stars, the soft light of the moon gave the clearing an ethereal glow, a grayish blue tint filtering through the clouds. Neo looked at the man for a few seconds before looking back at the stars, hugging her knees to her chest. Without a sound, the huntsmen sat down on the wooden planks, looking at the dark forest and listening to the night song, the cries of all the creatures, big and small, that inhabited the woods. They stood motionless for a few minutes before Neo stood up and began to walk towards the forest. Sighing, Taiyang looked at the mute woman, clearing his throat to get her attention.

"So… where are you going?"

Rolling her eyes, but not turning around, the psychopath simply pointed at the forest.

"And to do what? When we were in Vale, you kept disappearing during the night. So, Neopolitan, where are you going and what are you going to do?"

Throwing her hands in the air in exasperation, before pulling her hands in front of her to frantically a message, she turned around, stomping back to the older man, frustratingly looking back and forth between him and her phone, before shoving it in his face.

Why do you even care? I'm not your prisoner, I'm not one of your daughter, your family or your team, I'm not the friend of anybody in that house, I'm nothing to you. So, why, the fuck, do you care about me?

"Because you are alone." answered Taiyang, matter-of-factly, making Neo flinch as she looked away. "What were you doing each night in Vale when you disappeared from the room?"

Grinning, Neo made a circle with her left thumb and index and made a back and forth motion with her right index. Raising an eyebrow, Taiyang held her gaze until she groaned and sat back down, holding her hatred, her desire to stab the man, inside herself. She took a deep breath, looked down and sighed. Slowly, she looked up at the man and brought her hands, in fists, to her eyes, miming the act of crying.

"And now, the most important question. Why? Why were you crying?" asked the older man, sitting back down and looking at the younger girl. She took a moment to think, but she tapped a few keys on her scroll before showing it to the huntsman.

Alone.

"But, you aren't." said the man, smiling softly. "If you need anything, just say a word… Well… hum… type iy... you know what I mean."

You're not my type.

Laughing, Taiyang softly rubbed the young girl's back, comforting her as best as he could "Sorry kiddo, but I've had enough of this ‘relationship' thing, especially after my two wives, and you're too young anyway. That's not what I was saying and you know it. You… you did awful things, but so did my first wife. And, as a matter of fact, you've met each other. It seems you ran away from her if Yang's story of the train incident is on point."

Mouth gaping, Neo looked at Taiyang with fear, incomprehension and so many other emotions in her eyes, signing and pointing madly. Waiting for her to calm down, Taiyang simply looked at her with a little smile.

"Yep, that was my first wife, Yang's mom. But that's the story of another day. But what's important is, that even with all the awful things you did, if you don't want to feel alone, let people in your life. It may take time, they may doubt you, they may be weary, but with time they will open up to you. And you know, you might – "

"Hum… dad…?" said a voice as the door opened quickly, revealing a worried looking Yang. "We may… we may need a new dining table. I… well, you see…"

"You lost, got angry, activated your semblance and destroyed the table by punching through it with your new awesome robot hand?"

"I lost and… yeah okay, you got it perfectly." Answered the blond woman, blushing as she rubbed the back of her head, giggling uncomfortably.

"Alright, I'll work on that tomorrow. But, I'm coming back in to watch over all of you." Taiyang stood up, stretched and walked in, sighing as he passed Yang and looked at the damage done to the house. "God dammit Yang…" he muttered when he went inside, the door closing behind him, leaving Yang and Neo alone on the porch. They didn't say a word to each other for a moment before Yang sighed and crossed her arms.

"I… I never thank you for bringing back my gauntlet. It means a lot for me. So… thank you."

Smiling, Neo nodded slightly, shrugging at the same time, trying to explain that it wasn't anything, she did it, because… because… she wanted revenge. Frowning, Neo looked away, gazing up towards the sky once more. She came here because she wanted to avenge Roman. She came here because she wanted to kill the little Red that caused the death of her Roman, but now… now she didn't think about it as much. Yes, she wanted to avenge Roman, but maybe… Maybe it wasn't the one she should be hunting.

"Hey… Pint size." said Yang, smiling as she made the little psychopath jump, looking at her in surprise. "If you need anything, I'll see what I can do. After all, I owe you at least that much."

Nodding slowly, Neo smiled as she opened her hand, pressing her fingertips against her lips, before moving her hand in the direction of Yang, who raised an eyebrow.

"Hum… Are you trying to tell me something?"

Neo gasped, wide-eyed as she waved her hands around, grabbing her phone swiftly, tapping quickly.

I'm sorry, it's the sign language way of saying thank you. I forgot that you didn't know! >/////<

Yang laughed and shrugged, before turning around, heading back inside, with a little smile. She never saw Neo look at her, sigh softly, smile and hug her knees up to her chest once more, this time, however, feeling a little bit less alone than she had before. Maybe, just maybe, she could actually be happy and have friends? Maybe she could actually have a reason to live, rather than a reason to survive. The little psychopath smiled and giggled, without noticing the multiple faint green orbs looking at her from the edge of the forest. She never noticed the drone flying over the house as she entered the building. She was too worried about what kind of drink she'd like to have as she looked at the many alcohol bottles in the kitchen.

Even if she usually preferred sugar rushes, after a week like she just had, maybe it wasn't that bad of an idea.