The leaves were red. They had been green when he left, and since then they had faded to red, dropped to the ground, rotted, and begun sprouting new plants thrice over. And now those new plants had red leaves, clinging to the last vestiges of their lives. Soon, the cycle would begin again.

He walked on heavy feet, though with the posture of a dancer. He could move as swiftly as the crows that flitted through the trees above, he could flow like a river thundering through the stoney basins in a summer storm, and yet each step felt as though it were weighted with an insurmountable force.

It was the burden of a heavy heart, one which had once been full but now sat empty. Just as the trees lost their leaves, the tides of time had washed away bits of him. Not long ago, it had taken the best part of his heart, and left behind the festering ruin that was there. The last piece of news he had received in the field.

He had stopped answering after that.

Were it not for the one seed of hope, he would long since have allowed his heart to rot away and stop beating.

But in the darkest nights, in the coldest pits, in the harshest wastelands, there was that inkling of a notion that got him up in the morning, kept him vigilant, kept him living.

He had to see the face of his little girl again. Last time he had seen her, she had been little more than an infant, starting to babble words. He remembered the last words she had said to him, silver eyes meeting his cheerfully, a cute little smile on her plump cheeks, and her hand in his.

"Bye, Daddy! Come home soon!"

His heart ached at the remembrance. Soon, oh so soon, he would see her again. The withered soil of his heart was ready to thrive with new life, and he knew that seed that had been planted years ago would soon bloom. He just had to see Ruby again.

There it was, the house. The skeletal branches parted into a clearing, revealing a bright, little, two story cottage. It was hardly extravagant, nor representative of the wealth of its inhabitants, but it was homely. And Summer had always said that comfort and family were more important than the wealth brought to them by the missions. That was for the people, and to the people it had gone. Summer had always been generous like that, taking what she needed to live comfortably, and giving away the rest.

Qrow smiled at the memory. He missed her smile. He wished to look upon the quicksilver of her irises, brush his crimson lips against her soft pink ones, hold her, just one last time. In his chest, his heart pulled in a thousand directions and felt like it was to burst.

He stopped.

He clenched his eyes shut and squeezed his fists as the pain, sharper than any blade came again. The Reaper had reached into his ribs and pulled everything out so there was nothing but an empty void. His heart beat against a million fragments of glass and his veins froze over.

His hand reached down to his side, where the full flask sat, waiting to impart its burning relief over him and dull the world. Full, because it had not been touched for days.

No, the voice in his mind urged. He had to be strong now. Not for him — he was weak and pathetic — but for Ruby. She deserved a father that could be there. She deserved the last of whatever it was Summer saw in him, even if he had troubles finding it on the best of days.

He breathed deep, composed himself, then took another step.

He was only a dozen paces from the dark oak door when it squeaked open and a small figure popped her face out to look upon the newcomer.

Qrow stilled, his breath taken by the winds.

She had grown, tremendously. She stood almost twice as tall as when he had left, and the baby fat had dissolved into the beginnings of toned muscle from running around and playing. He could see the energetic spark in her shining silver eyes, glinting with the last rays of the dusk sun, red as it crested the world.

But he saw more than just her.

Her short hair, tinted at the edges in red, looked just like her mothers, and the cloak wrapped around her shoulders with its hood pulled over her head…

He saw Summer, her kind, fierce, and gentle soul in those eyes.

Qrow's chest constricted, in love and pain simultaneously.

He dropped to on knee and offered Ruby a smile.

"Hey, Ruby," He managed to get out between the hammering of his wounded heart. She cocked her head at him, surprise coming to her face when he said her name. His smile twisted into the beginnings of a frown.

A creak as the door opened, and Qrow's eyes left his daughter to find Taiyang's. His shoulders slumped when he saw Qrow, and he lay a hand on the young girl's head.

Ruby looked up at Qrow's old teammate.

"Who is that, dad?"

Qrow's heart froze.

No…

She was…

"That's Qrow. Why don't you run back inside and get Yang?" Tai ruffled her hair and she smiled at him. She looked back to the stricken man, still kneeling with his knee pressed into the dark red leaves. She waved and offered him a polite smile. He waved back numbly.

When she disappeared behind the door, the spell broke, and Qrow stood, slowly. His eyes remained focused on the spot next to Tai's leg where the girl had stood, looked up, called Tai 'dad.'

"Qrow…"

"She called you…"

"I know."

"…Why?"

There was a heavy moment as more leaves fell from the trees bordering the clearing. One landed on Qrow's shoulder, and he couldn't be bothered to brush it off.

"I'm sorry Qrow…"

He could find no words.

"You've been gone so long. It started two years after you left… She started calling me daddy. I told her her dad was away right now, off fighting monsters, but she kept starting again every few weeks. And then you stopped reporting to Ozpin, and we didn't know…

"She's lost her mother. I didn't have the heart to correct her when we started wondering if she had lost her father too. She doesn't deserve to start her life like that…" He trailed off.

"But… Who am I?" Somewhere, the seed inside his heart grew its first thorn, and begun wrapping its vines through him.

"You can tell her you're her father. And then tell her again next time you're back… And the time after that… If you ever come back." There was sadness there, but a sort of exasperation, and Qrow began to understand.

Taiyang was already a father. He cared for Yang and Ruby, made them breakfast in the morning, tucked them in at night, chased away the nightmares, hugged them…

Qrow was a huntsman.

There was not room enough in one soul to be more than that. He couldn't be the father his daughter needed. He didn't know if he would be more than dust and ashes in the wind within the month…

But Tai had given that life up. He had left it all behind.

"How long is it before your next mission?" Tai asked, and Qrow felt the numbness spreading.

"I've got two weeks leave."

"And how long will you be gone?"

"I don't know. Things are changing out there… I don't know if I'm coming back."

Tai nodded solemnly. Qrow felt his heart begin bleeding anew.

"Please," Tai murmured. "Please don't make me do it again. Telling her about Summer… Don't make me tell her that both her parents are buried on the side of that cliff. Don't make me tell her how the monsters are winning against the heroes.

"Please, just stay."

Qrow looked at his friend. Someone who, by all rights, was his brother. Someone who had lived this life, and given it up. He seemed almost docile, the fire of his soul tempered by the love he had for his daughter and niece. Qrow tried, but he could not picture himself next to his old partner. He had lived in the nightmare for too long, he could no longer maintain the illusion of the dream, even for those he loved.

"I can't," He murmured, and he saw a desperate sort of fear in Tai's eyes.

"Qrow, you can't leave her here without a father."

There was a beat in which the world stood still. Qrow knew once he uttered his next words there would be no going back, and he grimaced. He reached into his pocket and drew out the flask. He took a swig and the amber liquid burned it's way through his throat. He couldn't be both. It was all that simple.

"I'm not." He tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice. "She already knows who her father is."

"Dad!" Came the call from within, and Qrow spotted the red-clad child dragging Yang, long hair like Raven's, but blonde like her father's, towards the entrance. It felt like being shot. The hood fell off as she pulled up next to Tailing's side. Yang looked over Ruby's head and saw Qrow. He saw a glint of recognition in her eye, and she frowned as she tried to place it.

"Who are you?" Ruby asked, pure, innocent curiosity.

And with those three words, Qrow's heart cracked beyond repair. He would never smile so that it reached his eyes again, he wouldn't laugh without reserve, he wouldn't love without restraint. Thorny vines wrapped around the last bloody scraps of his heart, and they would never break their hold.

"I'm…" His voice wavered and wobbled, hoarse. "I'm your unc-" He choked on the last word, fighting away the tears that were threatening to flow down his cheeks.

"I'm your Uncle Qrow."

A/N

This was a prompt from /u/ShowMeYourFury. I... Hope it lived up to what was hoped for.

I'll probably tweak this one through edits until eventually I'm happy with it.

Unjax