It was a warm summer's day in Patch, the Sun beamed down warmly through the kitchen widow of a small suburban house. Mixing bowls, spoons and whisks were messily strewn around the room, small blobs of flour and spilt dough covering the counters. A woman stood in front of the window stirring a mixing bowl of cookie dough with a wooden spoon, a large white cloak adorning her and a red apron tied around her neck. Her dishevelled black hair drooped down in front of her face, sticking to her sweaty forehead. She sighed and quickly sent a puff of breath upwards in some attempt to displace the dangling hair but it would not comply and quickly flopped back down into her eyes. She let out an exasperated breath and pushed the spoon deep into the cookie dough then bringing her hand up and wiping the moisture from her brow with her arm.

Paper flew from the small dining table behind her as a small girl wearing a red dress darted into the room, a cardboard box, with two holes for her eyes, a small flap for her mouth and some messily drawn details, placed on her head. The young girl reached behind her back, grabbing a small wooden sword and, taking a planted stance, she pointed it up towards the woman.

"Hands up Mommy, I'm here to take these cookies back to the people of Woobyville"

The woman turned around from the counter and looked down at the young girl, feigning shock,"Oh no, please Miss huntress I need these cookies to feed my daughter. She gets very cranky when she doesn't get them."

The young girl stomped her foot and folded her arms indignantly, "I don't get cranky" she huffed. The woman looked down at her, a loving smile spreading across her face as she placed the bowl on the counter and lowered herself down to her daughter's level. She placed her hands either side of the box and carefully lifted it off her daughter's head exposing an innocent looking pouting face looking up at her. She let out a small melodic giggle and placed her hand on the young girls head, ruffling her short black hair.

"Do you think the people of Rubyville can wait another 10 minutes? They're not quite ready yet" She said in a sweet, soothing voice. "Do you want to help me finish off?"

The young girl's eyes widened as she squirmed with excitement, quickly running across the room as fast as her legs would carry her towards the breakfast bar on the opposite wall. An involuntary burst of speed forced her to trip and roll onto the floor. She quickly scrambled back to her feet and grabbed a stool, pushing it with great effort across the room to beside her mother. She stared up at her mother, bouncing impatiently.

"Mama!" she shouted as she tugged on her mother's cloak. Her mother looked down and the girl flung her arms upwards, jumping up at her and grasping at air, "Up! Up!"

The woman bent down and picked her up, placing her gently on the stool. She turned back and picked the mixing bowl back up, proceeding to place the cookie dough into a small baking tray. "Mommy? Can I do it?" Ruby enquired, looking up at her mother, an almost pleading expression on her face. Her mother turned to look at her, cocking an eyebrow and letting out a small chuckle under her breath.

"Ok" She passed the bowl over to the young girl, whose eyes widened with excitement, "just try not to spill it, ok?"

She beamed up at her mother, nodding eagerly. She grabbed the bowl and began to messily blob the dough into the tray, admittedly getting more of it on herself than it's intended location. Once the bowl was empty she smiled at her mother, letting out a small laugh as she licked the dough off of her hands.

A series of loud bangs came from above the kitchen, moving over through the house. "MOOOOM!" Seconds later a small girl walked into the room, slightly older than her sister, her long golden hair falling messily on her shoulders over her orange pyjamas. She rubbed her eyes and groaned at the sudden brightness encompassing the room. "Oh! Oh! I call dibs on the mixing bowl"

Her mother smiled, rolling her eyes and letting out a small sigh. She placed the last of the dough in the tray and passed the bowl over to the blonde girl.

"But, but" The younger sister looked up at her mother, feigning a cry accompanied by a pout, "she didn't even help!" She fell to a sit, folding her arms and huffing in annoyance.

"Ruby" Her mother moved in front of her, crouching down to her height and unfolding her arms. She lightly grabbed her daughters hands and peered up into her eyes, "You know if you want to be like the heroes in the books you've got to do what they do. They know that sometimes you can't have everything you want, sometimes you have to do what's best for the people you love."

The young girl sniffed and nodded slowly, "ok Mama." Her mother placed her hand on the girl's cheek, stroking her cheek with her thumb,

"You're going to be a great huntress one day Ruby, I know it" She smiled down at the young girl as Ruby shot up and threw her arms around her mother, nuzzling her head into her neck, a blissful expression coming to her face.

"Love you Mama"

"I love you too sweetie" The young girl smiled, her mind racing with thoughts of her as a huntress like her mother, fighting evildoers, Grimm and protecting the world. A distant clap of thunder filled the air as a flash of light illuminated the room, the sky went dark.

Rain lashed down on the house causing the only audible sound in the room aside from the slight crackle of the fireplace. Ruby lay curled up on a rug in front of the fire, cuddling a small whining dog close to her as she stroked it's head reassuringly.

"Shh Eins, it's ok" she smiled at him pulling him closer into a loving embrace. Taiyang sat on the couch reading the day's issue of "The Daily Vale", Yang snuggling up to him, a comforted look on her face as she grasped tightly at his shirt while she slept.

A knock came at the door. Taiyang placed down his newspaper on the table beside the sofa and rose from his seat, moving Yang off of him as he rose, she reached out sleepily towards him and fell onto the sofa as he rounded the corner into the hallway and then into the porch. Ruby stood from where she lay and quietly followed him, wary not to alert him to her presence. She took a seat on the steps just into the hallway and peered round at her father as he unlocked the door.

The door opened to a man, draped in a black raincoat blowing violently in the wind as he grasped tightly to it to lessen effect of the wind. A large hood covered his head as it pointed firmly at the ground, his unkempt, scraggly grey beard all that could be seen of his face as it flapped in the wind. He slowly moved his head upwards, his eyes like pools reflecting a mixture of shame and sorrow as they met Taiyang's.

"Q-Qrow? What're you doing here? I thought..." Taiyangs sentence trailed away as his eyes widened in shock and revelation, quickly twisting into worry and nervousness. Another clap of thunder erupted accompanied by a flash of white light and a strong gust of wind, "Where's Summer?". Qrow looked down unable to maintain eye contact with his friend. "Qrow!" His voice shook with fear as he shouted, "where is she!?"

"Tai, I- I'm sorry..." Qrow's voice cracked as he reached behind him and pulled out a shredded bloodied white hood, "I..I.." No words would come to his aid, his throat swelled and allowed none to escape as tears began to trickle slowly from his eyes. Taiyang reached out, his whole body shaking as he delicately picked up the hood. He stared on at the hood, shaking his head in disbelief. His eyes clamped closed, in some vain attempt to stop the tears from forming. His breath became more erratic as he fought the urge to scream in grievance.

"No no no no no no..." His voice drifted into an anguished squeak as tears dripped off his chin onto the cradled hood .

"We were pinned down, just the two of us." Qrow stammered, futilely attempting to reconcile with his friend and offer some semblance of explanation as to what had happened and why. "There must have been 100 Beowolves and Ursai, I tried to fight them but I got hit against a tree and knocked out, the last I saw Summer was fending them off and yelling for some villagers to come and help me and then, when I woke up I was in the village so I ran out to help and..." Qrow looked away ashamedly, the moment flashing in his mind; the blood stained ground, the shreds of clothing thrown around the field and over the trees, the stench of death and evaporating Grimm, the sight of the sole finger that was all that remained of his friend. He swallowed a lump forming in his throat, "That's all that was left"

Taiyang's vision blurred and his chest throbbed painfully as he dropped to his knees, his arms trembling as he stared down at the hood, fixated. A short quiet wail escaped from his lips, "no." He quickly snapped out of his trance as he felt a warm embrace grasp at his side; his head turned slowly to see Ruby stood next to him, her red cloak draped around her neck as she hugged him tightly, burying her head into his arm. She rolled her head up at him, innocence and concern reflecting in her eyes.

"Daddy, are you ok now?" A worried pout came to her face as she peered up at him. Her father wiped away the tears in his eyes with the back of his hand and smiled at her. He carefully placed the hood down on his lap and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug and placing his hand on the back of her head.

"I'm fine sweetie"

"U- Uncle Qrow?"

Qrow looked up from the ground into the house to notice his young niece, looking on at him drowsily, her long blonde hair ruffled and stuck around messily.

"You're back early" She almost questioned, "Mom said you'd be gone at the village until Monday." Qrow scratched the back of his neck and let out a small forced laugh.

"Yeah" he muttered in a downcast tone, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. She narrowed her eyes at him confusedly.

"So, aren't you coming in? You and Mom must be tired after your mission"

Taiyang placed his hand over his mouth, pushing his grieving sobs and urges to scream down. He held his breath, trying desperately to calm himself and stop the tears from forming again. Qrow looked away ashamedly, unable to look the young girl in the eye, "No Yang, I- I can't."

Ruby looked around at the three of them, not understanding what was happening. Why was Daddy crying? What was wrong with Uncle Qrow? Where was Mom? Yang turned to her father for some indication as to how she should be feeling or what she should do, getting a quick glimpse of white stained with red out of the corner of her eye. Her eyes widened and her breath caught,

"w- what's that?" She lifted her arm and pointed toward the hood on her father's lap. She walked slowly over to her father and tentatively picked up the hood, looking down on it as she turned it in her hands, shaking her head in denial as tears formed in her eyes and began streaming down her face. "Where's Mom?" She darted her eyes between her father and uncle, a cloud of worry encircling her and her breathing becoming more erratic as she began to cry. She settled her gaze on her uncle, her focus instantly resolved on his despairing expression "Where is she!?" She shouted, her voice shaking and turning to a high pitched squeak as she flailed the hood at him. "Where is she!?" she turned to her father again waving the hood at him. He quickly reached out and grasped her wrist,

"Yang." He looked up at her, his eyes filled up. A single tear rolled down his cheek, he shook his head slowly, "stop." She turned and launched herself at her father, throwing her arms around his neck and weeping into his shoulder. He brought his hand around her back and stroked her hair slowly, quietly shushing her cries.

Ruby looked around at the three of them, a confused expression covering her face. "Daddy? What's going on? Where's Mom? And why does Yang have her hood? And why is Yang crying? And why are you crying?"

A white light. Rolling bellows of thunder.

"...And so we gather here today to say farewell to Summer Rose, beloved mother, wife... friend." Ruby looked up at her uncle as he looked out over the rows of people all dressed in black delivering his speech. His eyes were drawn to Ruby, and his family, her family; they all looked so strange wearing black, out of character, Ruby's only feature displaying her trademark red being a rose pinned to her dress. Taiyang looked down at the floor over the top of Ruby, who sat on his lap bawling quietly, he hugged her tightly. His eyes painted grey underneath and his gaze hollow, he looked like a shell of the man he had once been. Yang sat next to her father, clinging to his arm tightly and burying her head in his side, holding her breath to keep herself from bursting into tears, she was a big girl now and she couldn't let Ruby see her cry. Qrow sighed and placed his arms on the podium in front of him, he looked down at them shaking violently as he attempted to hold himself up. He took a breath and looked up.

"As Summer's partner it's my job to say a few words about her. Summer was the greatest person I've ever had the pleasure to know, everywhere she went she made a little brighter and everyone she met she made feel a little happier, a little more loved, a little more cared for. Her immense selflessness, love and bravery are the only reason I can give this speech to you now, she sacrificed herself to save me and a village of nearly 500 people, it's because of her that all those people are still alive. Summer is a hero, an inspiration and I know I will spend the rest of my life trying to live how she would have wanted and trying to make her proud." He looked down and took a deep breath as he turned to face a small stone tablet behind him at the edge of the cliff, "Goodbye Summer rose. The world will be a little less bright for every day you are no longer in it" He placed his hand over his mouth and swallowed a coming sob, "you will be sorely missed." Qrow reached into his pocket and placed a white dust crystal on the slab.

He turned to look at the people behind him, holding up a small red shard. Each person in the congregation stood from their seats and reached into their pockets pulling out a similar shard and raising it into the air. Ruby sniffed with her tears and looked around, slightly confused then up to her father. He grasped her hand along with that of her sister and walked up to the front next to Qrow. He passed each of them a shard and they raised it slightly apprehensively. Qrow stood proudly and cleared his throat allowing his practised incantation to bellow out

"AND SO WE BID YOU FAREWELL!"

"and so we bid you farewell." The crowd repeated.

"SUMMER ROSE!"

"Summer Rose."

"MAY YOUR SLUMBER RIEGN ETERNAL AND PEACEFUL!"

"may your slumber reign eternal and peaceful"

"MAY WE MEET YOU AGAIN IN THE NEXT LIFE!"

"may we meet you again in the next life"

"MAY YOUR SPIRIT GUIDE AND PROTECT US!" He turned and faced out over the edge of the cliff, "like Dust."

Qrow's clenched his fist, crushing the crystal in his palm. He slowly opened his fist and allowed the powder drift away on the wind. Yang quickly followed on, as did the rest of the congregation. Dust floated through the air. Ruby squeezed her shard tightly but couldn't break it, her father reached down, placing his hand over her own and crushing the shard in her hand. She opened her palm and turned around watching the dust float away on the breeze.

Time passed and the once full crowd began to dissipate to a few solitary people. Ruby looked around, trying to recognise the people who remained: There was Daddy, Uncle Qrow, the man with the funny glasses, the big muscley man with the sliver eyebrow and two other ladies with them and then there was the red eye lady behind the tree. Why was she hiding?

Ruby looked over at her and waved as they made eye contact, the woman froze with shock and ducked behind the tree. A swirling black hole opened and Ruby looked at it, her head cocked to the side in confusion. The woman took a long stride forward and into the hole, sealing it behind her. Ruby's eyes widened in surprise.

"Ruby" She jumped and turned around, she slowly lifted her head to see the man with the glasses smiling down at her, he slowly lowered himself to her level, kneeling on the ground., "your mother was a very brave woman, she saved a lot of people, you should be very proud. She would always tell me about how you wanted to be huntress just like her one day and you know what I think?" He smiled at her and placed his hand on her shoulder, "I think if your anywhere near as good as you mother was the Grimm had better watch out"

"Ozzie"

The man looked up at Taiyang, an upset expression on his face. He shook his head slightly as he mouthed "not now" at his friend.

"Ruby?" She looked up at him, "it's time to say goodbye." He smiled weakly at her and extended his arm outwards toward her.

She looked up at him, drawing in a gasp of reality. Her eyes slowly closed and she bowed her head, the memory of the situation flooding back as she nodded her head slowly, reaching her hand up to grasp her father's. They walked over to Summer's headstone, Yang ran up to them, throwing her arms around her father and burying her face in his stomach. She slowly lifted her head from the now wet patch on his shirt.

Ruby released her fathers hand, moving slowly toward her mother's monument alone, her eyes tearing up more and more as she walked closer. She looked around at him, her face scrunching up as she began to cry,

"Daddy!" She let out a long agonizing squeal as she pointed her finger clumsily at the monument just in front of her. Her hand came to her chest grasping at the rose on her dress and pulling it away. She looked down at the headstone, wailing as she felt a hand touch her shoulder. A woman's voice echoed around her,

"Ruby"

She turned her head and looked up,

"Daddy" She sobbed, "I don't want Mommy to go, I want her back" Her father knelt down an front of her and she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his stomach. She looked up at him, her eyes shimmering with tears.

"Ruby"

"I don't want her to go Daddy, I don't want her to go" She buried her head into her father's stomach, her muffled cries wailing into him.

"Ruby"

He placed his arms around her and slowly rubbed her back as he stared off at his wife's headstone, "I know Sweetie, I know" The ground around them began to crumble towards them

Ruby's eyes rolled open, her vision blurry from her unconscious tears. The wetness of her heartbreak clung to the pillow creating a wet patch that lay pooled beneath the side of her face. Her body was curled up in an almost fetal position. She rolled her head to the side slightly, lightly brushing her cheek with her fingers, the moisture wiping off onto her fingertips.

"Ruby?" A familiar, soothing voice called from the end of Ruby's bed

"Mom?" she croaked weakly.

"What? Ruby, it's me"

Ruby wiped her eyes with the back of her hand as she pushed herself to sit up . "B- Blake?" she gasped, her breathing still slightly ragged. The faunus girl smiled tenderly at her before her eyebrows furrowed, a worried expression forming.

"Are you ok?" The concern in her voice prevalent as she asked, "Y- You were crying" she almost questioned. Ruby forced out a short, quiet laugh as she looked down and shrugged,

"It's nothing, just bad dreams I guess" She looked up slightly offering a weak smile, her mind being dragged back to the memories that had been haunting her, "I'm fine"

"Ruby. You were crying and yelling 'I don't want her to go'. It's not nothing." The older girl crawled forward on the bed toward her leader. She placed her hands around Ruby's as the younger girl rolled her head slowly up towards her gaze. Blake smiled lovingly at her, "Tell me." Ruby shot a look downwards and let out a small sigh,

"It... It was my mom"

"Your mom?" Blake looked at her, a cloud of confusion enveloping her face, "What about her?"

"Yeah, she uh... have I ever told you about my mom?"

"Uh.. No, no I don't think you have, I mean Yang told me some things but..." She trailed off, not knowing how to finish her sentence, she paused and looked up with a smile, "She sounded amazing"

"Yeah... she was" Ruby looked up, meeting Blake's gaze, "Yang thinks I was too young to remember my mom." She squeezed her eyes shut for a second, anger and pain building inside her. She quickly flashed her eyes open and stared indignantly at Blake, "Well I do remember her. I remember everything about her. The way she looked, the way she laughed, how much she loved me and Yang. I remember how we used to go for walks through the woods back home, I remember how we used to bake cookies together, I remember how she used to read me stories every night until I fell asleep, and then..." Ruby looked down, swallowing the lump forming in her throat.

"And then?" Blake stroked the younger girls hands softly with her thumbs.

"Then she left for a mission." Her body began to shudder slightly at reliving the memories, "She... didn't come back... I just..." Blake began to move around to beside her upon hearing her voice crack. Ruby turned her head to look at Blake, her eyes welling up. "It still hurts" A tear rolled down her cheek, "She was so amazing, the day she died she saved almost 500 people, including my uncle, all by herself... She was a hero. I guess that's the real reason I wanted to become a huntress, I just... I wanted to help people. Like she did." Tears began slowly trickling down her face.

Blake turned and placed her arm around her friend, pulling her into a warm embrace. Ruby nuzzled her head into the crook of Blake's neck, her sobbing intensifying. The two of them stayed together for what felt like forever as Ruby slowly regained her composure and flushed out her grief. Blake pulled cautiously away from her, holding Ruby's shoulders tentatively.

"Are you ok?" She asked, a concerned look on her face. Ruby sighed slightly and slowly nodded. Blake reached her arm up and cupped Ruby's cheek, wiping away a tear carefully with her thumb. "We should try to go back to sleep" she smiled, slowly moving her hand away from Ruby's face and turning to return to her own bunk.

"Blake wait." Ruby reached out, grabbing her team mate's robe. Blake turned, seeing her leader looking innocently up at her. "Stay with me? Please" She quickly smiled down at her as she shifted to lie underneath the cover behind Ruby. Blake lifted her arm and placed it over her leader, hugging her close.

"Sleep tight, I'll be here when you wake up"

A wide smile spread across Ruby's face as she let out a contented sigh.

"Thank you"