6. By the sword of my father.

Ruby walked with measured steps towards the direction Ichigo's tie was pointed at, which was held between her fingers. After the third tow her boyfriend had with the article of clothing, she took command of it.

Ichigo could only stare baffled at how functional and well behaved the temperamental tie was being.

Ignoring his confusion, Ruby marched on. The tie led her to a two story log cabin with a dull red metal roof. Stopping at the door, she found herself caressing the wooden frame of the door. She idly wondered if that had been her home once.

She pocketed the tie and knocked heavily against the door. Heavy steps rang behind the door, before it opened.

The man who opened the door was a rugged looking blonde middle aged man. His attire was a combination of different shades of brown with a red bandana on his left arm with a heart tattoo on his other arm.

"Ye-," the man's words died as soon as his eyes met Ruby's. Color steadily drained from his face. The man's eyes seemed to dilate as his glancing shifted between Ruby and Ichigo. But, the man seemed to have some measure of control for his breathing evened out and he appeared genial.

"Hello," the man started again.

Ruby gulped, but kept her nervousness down, "Hey. This might sound weird and everything, but you wouldn't happen to know someone named Ruby, do you?"

"I think it would be best to take this conversation inside. Why don't you and friend step in?" Any remaining energy in the man seemed to fade immediately.

Ruby looked at Ichigo and he merely shrugged. They followed the man inside.

The interior of the house was made primarily of hardwood and well furnished. It appeared well kept and lived in. There was a feel of security and welcome on every surface. Ruby couldn't help the soft smile that appeared as she looked over the place.

The man directed them to the dining room. There were four chairs around the circular table with an additional chair by the wayside, said chair appearing less used than the others.

The man sat down and Ruby took the chair directly in front of him. Ichigo pulled the wayward chair and began to gaze out the window within the room.

A minute of silence passed between Ruby and the man. Each appeared to be searching for something within the other.

The man spoke first, "I knew a Ruby. I am Taiyang and Ruby was my daughter. How do you know that name?"

Ruby froze and really looked at the man. Clenching her fist in her lap, she looked him directly in the eyes and resolutely said, "I am Ruby. I think I'm your daughter. I know this might be hard to believe, but I'm not trying to trick you. You see..." She began patting her skirt, but seemed alarmed.

Ichigo sighed, before pulling out his wallet. Flipping it open, he pulled out a photo and passed it to Ruby.

She nodded gratefully before turning the photo over to the Taiyang. "I have this," she said lamely.

Taiyang mirrored Ichigo's actions and pulled out his own wallet. He placed a worn photo beside Ichigo's photo. Taiyang's photo showed him beside a smiling little girl with dark hair and red highlights. Ichigo's photo showed the same girl, perhaps a year older, beside an equally young version of himself. The pair were smiling widely while covered in dirt. Taiyang seemed to freeze out of shock from looking at the two photos.

Seeing his reaction, Ruby rushed to say, "I know it isn't much, but... "

Her words were cut off as the Taiyang rose from his seat and nearly tackled her in a hug. She was pulled off the chair and couldn't actually reach the ground with her feet. Still, she didn't try to pull away. She could feel Taiyang shaking, barely holding back tears. She wiggled some moving room so that she could hug back, just as tightly. They held the hug as though to make up for the missing years.

Finally, albeit reluctantly, Taiyang placed her back on her feet. "I never thought I would see you alive again," he choked. "When I opened the door, I thought I was seeing things again. I mean it looked like a little Summer was knocking on my door. You even had her silver eyes, a pretty rare thing you know."

She chuckled, "Must've been pretty weird seeing me out of the blue."

He shook his head, "Don't apologize for any of that. I'm just happy for the chance to see you again. All of this has been nothing less than a blessing."

Ruby smiled, touched by his genuine happiness. "If you don't mind me asking, how did I disappear?"

He cringed and looked away shamefaced, "You have every right to know. You disappeared, because I failed you. If I had been paying better attention, I would have never let you or your sister Yang out of my sight. During that time, you two made your way into the forest and were attacked by Grimm. Your Uncle Qrow came in time to save your sister from a tragic end, but you were nowhere to be seen. Yang swore up and down, to this day, that you were swallowed by the ground, but your uncle and I thought she was traumatized by the attack. Still, we held on to hope and used every resource and contact between us to search for you. After years of no results or even leads, we assumed the worst."

"Stop that," Ruby commanded with a light smack to his chest. "You couldn't have known. I ended up far away in a place called Karakura. You probably haven't heard of it before. I wouldn't have ever found you if Kisuke wasn't such a genius. He finally finished a tracker that was based on my energy and traced the location of the last place it was concentrated at. Isn't it amazing? It worked despite how long ago I vanished."

Ichigo snorted and before wearing a neutral expression as Ruby turned to glare at him.

Turning back to Taiyang, she kindly added, "If that isn't enough, then I'll say this. I forgive you for whatever wrong you believe you did to me. But, I think you need to start forgiving yourself. I've seen what that kind of thinking does to a person."

Taiyang couldn't hide the pride and sadness in his tone, "You grew up to be a wise one, eh kid? I know Summer would've been proud. I just wish I had been a part of it." Shaking off his melancholy, he continued, "Never mind me, what about you? You must have all kinds of stories to tell. Mind telling an old man a few?"

Ruby smiled brightly, "Only if you tell me some of yours."

Ichigo saw the interaction and smiled in relief.