-.-.-Chapter 3-.-.-

With a sigh Qrow slipped his scroll back into his back pocket before running his hand down his face, ‘I can’t believe that just happened’ he thought to himself. He wanted to help the kid, sure, but adopting him.

‘Well I thought of it first didn’t I?’ he thought before shaking his head again as he muttered, “I need a drink.”

Reaching into his breast pocket to where he normally kept his on the go flask he frowned when he didn’t find it. Taking a second to think back to when he last took a drink, he remembered having it when he was on the ground at the crash site before it clicked with him.

‘I must have dropped it in my rush when I heard the kid scream for help’ he realized and sighed in annoyance as he glanced back to where the kid was. What he saw made his heart break just that bit more.

Wyn must have still been exhausted from the whole experience, because he was now laying down next to the body bags curled up against them, and Qrow could tell from how his body subtly moved that he had fallen asleep again.

Qrow took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he shook his head before making his way over to him, picking up one of the blankets that were usually kept on hand for long trips as he went and put it over the kid to help keep him warm before he went back to his seat and sat watching for a moment before sighing again as he took his phone out to make another call.

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-.-.-Rose/Xiao Long household-.-.-

Taiyang Xiao Long sat on his living room sofa, half slumped over, his gaze fixed on the picture frame in his hands, his beloved late wife smiling back at him through the glass as she hugged their girls and his past self hugged her from behind.

It had been the last family picture they had taken together before she…

Taking a deep and shuddering breath he closed his eyes as he put the picture down and clenched his fists, warring with himself not to take it up and look at her again.

Ten minutes, that’s how much time he allotted to himself each day to look at that picture, to help him never forget her face, her smile, to remember her touch. He shook his head again to not dwell on those thoughts. She was gone, she wasn’t coming back and no matter how much he wished she would it would never be.

It had been rough, especially those first months. He had spent every waking moment he could searching for her, tracking every lead, following every rumored sighting only to come back empty handed every time.

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When her death had first been confirmed by Ozpin, he had wanted to deny it, but the evidence and reports had been undeniable, it had been his worst fear.

The month that followed that day had been one of the darkest in his life, he hadn’t said a word, he had locked himself away in his and Summer’s bedroom and spent every waking hour either crying, looking at that picture or both at the same time.

He had been beside himself with grief and self loathing over his lot in life, first Raven had left him, true they weren’t together all that long but he still felt that he loved her, and her leaving after having Yang had hurt him dearly. Summer had picked him up and put him back together, and things had been looking up, with her being a mom to Yang and then little Ruby coming along, he thought things would be perfect from now on. But that had been shattered by her death and he was left broken a second time, now with no one there to help pull him back from the brink again.

It hadn’t been until after that month that he had heard a crash and crying from downstairs that got him to leave his room that had got him to snap out of it, when he found little Ruby on the kitchen floor sobbing over a smashed cookie jar, chair tipped to the side and mold covered cookies spilled everywhere.

He had gone to help her immediately, even in his grief stricken state his instincts as a father was to help her, seeing her unharmed he scooped her up only for her crying to get louder as she started apologizing to him and from her words he realized why she was upset.

The cookies were the last batch that she and Summer had made together. She hadn’t eaten them because of that.

As Ruby had sobbed into his chest he had finally taken a look around at his once persteen home. Qrow had been doing everything he could to try and look after the girls in the month after they got the news, but it was clear he wasn’t used to doing so.

The kitchen had been a mess, dirty dishes in the sink, beer bottles and cans, as well as take out containers and uneaten food overflowed the bin, dirty clothes were spilling out of the wash room, the carpets and counters were filthy and there was a layer of dust gathering all around.

That had been the wake up call he had needed, to realize that he wasn’t the only one who was mourning, and had been the day he had found the reason and strength to pull himself back together, his girls needed him.

In the months that followed that day things had gotten better, the house was clean and he kept on top of things, kept himself busy to he wouldn’t have time to think on the past too much, only allowing himself a few minutes each day with the picture to remember Summer before he got on with life as best he could, he knew that she would want that for him and their girls.

Yang and Ruby however were a different story, he’d tried to help them as best he could, but neither left their room much these days, except for the bathroom and meals.

He honestly didn’t know what to do with them, Summer had always… he shook his head again, he couldn’t help himself but think back to her every chance he got.

Letting out a sigh as he glanced at the stairs, he tried to think on just how to even begin to help them start to move on, when his scroll buzzed in his pocket and he frowned when he took it out and saw Qrow calling.

‘He only left an hour ago, what’s he calling for?’ Tai thought as he answered the call.

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Chapter word count: 1128