Author's Note: And so, here we are. The final chapter. Before you read this, I would just like to say I greatly appreciate everyone reading this, and I'm glad to see so many people enjoying my content. So. Thank you. Thank you for enjoying my first complete work. Thank you for being so supportive and for all the positive reviews. Thank you for your time. Now, without any more waiting, the end of "The Branwen Rose". Enjoy.

Chapter 12: Goodbyes

(16 years ago)

Qrow quietly walked around his room, attaching his newly made cloak to his shirt, grabbing his scythe and holstering it. He looked to his bed, seeing her there lying asleep, unaware of the horrible action he was about to commit. He walked over to the bed and placed down a note, the contents explaining why he was doing this, secretly knowing that it was no excuse. As he was just about to leave, he turned back around to see her still asleep. He walked up to her and knelt down to her, planting one last kiss on her head.

"I'm sorry," he whispered before quietly leaving the room, leaving the house, leaving his family.

-x-

(Present Day)

Qrow and Yang quietly entered through the front door, making sure not to wake anyone up as they came in. If Taiyang found out they were out all night, they would not hear the end of it for a long time coming.

"Alright, now be quiet going upstairs," Qrow warned in a whisper, "and do try to get a couple hours of sleep."

"Okay," Yang said and was about to go when her uncle re-opened the front door, "Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna do something I haven't done in awhile," he vaguely answered, "I think it's long over due."

Without another word, Qrow left the house and started walking off. Leaving Yang alone to make it to her room. She took deep breaths with every step she took, fearing one of the floor boards might squeak underneath the pressure and alert someone of her getting home. Slowly but surely, she made it up the stairs, and was close to her door when she suddenly heard a sound. One that didn't come from her. The sound surprisingly came from her si-cousin's room. Making sure not to make a sound, Yang made her way to the door and slowly turned the knob. Opening the door very slightly, she looked through the crack and couldn't believe what she saw.

Ruby up walking around. Her scythe was on her bed along side with dust rounds and other supplies. She was fully dressed in her usual hood and skirt getup. Yang instantly knew what she was doing, and she didn't like it one bit. She watched as Ruby grabbed her bag and started stuffing all of her supplies into. Yang quietly opened the door further and entered the room with Ruby too busy to notice. She prompted herself against the wall and waited a good couple seconds before she started.

"Ahem," she cleared her throat to get Ruby's attention.

"Ahh!" Ruby jumped and turned around, entering a fake martial arts pose before seeing who it was, "Yang! What are you doing up?"

"Said the little girl wearing her combat gear and packing her bag with dust," Yang said giving her a narrow eyed look, "What are you doing, Ruby?"

Ruby sighed heavily knowing she was busted.

"I have to go, Yang," she started, " I need to find the ones who did this. The ones who destroyed Beacon. The ones who hurt so many people. I won't let them just go unpunished. They need to pay for their actions."

"Ruby, it's too reckless, don't do this," Yang pleaded, "You don't need to do this just to feel better."

"I'm not doing this for me, Yang. I'm doing this for those who can't anymore," Ruby stated with a determined look Yang had never seen before, "For Penny. For Pyrrha. For you. I'm gonna find them and bring them to justice."

"I can't stop you," Yang said, "and if I could, I'd go with you."

"I know you would," Ruby stated, "and if I could, I'd let you. I would wait for you to recover, but right now, I can't afford to waste time."

"Where are you going?" Yang asked both curious and concerned for her well being.

"Mistral, Heaven Academy, that's where Cinder said she was from," Ruby replied, "I'm gonna get some answers."

Ruby scrounged around her room a bit before finding pen and paper. She started writing something down before placing the paper on her bed. She then picked up her Crescent Rose, placing it on her back holster and put her pack on. She turned toward the door to see Yang in her way. At first Ruby thought Yang was just gonna stay in her way, then Yang came close and held her close to her.

"Take care of yourself, baby sister," Yang warned.

"Don't worry, Yang," Ruby assured, "I'm not going alone."

Yang backed away and stepped out of Ruby's way as she walked toward and opened the door. Almost about to leave, Ruby quickly turned back around and shared one last hug with her big sister.

"I'm gonna miss you," she said on the verge of tears.

"Yeah, me too," Yang shared the feeling.

-x-

(12 years ago)

In an old run down bar in Mistral, Qrow was resting his head on the counter, drenched in the smell of booze. He has done nothing but do this everyday, ever since he found out about Summer. He couldn't believe she was gone. Someone as pure-hearted as her, at such a young age. It shouldn't have happened. Not to her.

"Should have been me," he slurred in a mix of depression and drunkenness, "It should have been me."

"You know," an unknown but familiar voice spoke out, "a friend of mine said you shouldn't drink alcohol, said it was poison."

Qrow turned toward the voice to see Taiyang standing before him with a look of disappointment and anger. Qrow made a face of disgust before quickly turning his gaze back to the drink in his hand.

"The fuck are you doing here?" Qrow said before downing the last bit of liquor in this glass, "I thought you stopped drinking."

"And I thought you hated it," Taiyang countered, "Look, I know what you're going through right now. It's hard to lose someone you love."

"Except one thing wiseguy, only one of us lost the love of their life," Qrow stated while filling his glass again, "Yours left you in some broken down shed on Patch."

"Then I guess you two aren't so different," Taiyang retorted, making Qrow grip his glass tighter, "Both of you abandoned the ones who loved you."

Qrow felt himself heating up as he gritted his teeth. The sound of glass cracking could be heard right before the drink Qrow was holding erupted as the glass shattered under the pressure of his ever tightening grip. His now formed fist now covered in what was his choice of alcohol.

"How dare you!" Qrow shouted out without restraint due to his drunken state, getting the entire bars attention, "Comparing me to my sister! That's low even for you, Tai!"

"How can I not? Twins are always similar in some fashion," Taiyang pressed on, "Normally it's in looks, but in your case it's personality and how you both just leave when you can't handle being a parent. You're just like her."

As soon as those words escaped his lips, Qrow's fist swung through the air, landing a hit right across Taiyang's face. Taiyang's head barely moved from the strike.

"Geez, that all you got," he insulted, "Please, the worst part of that punch was having an up close whiff of that reeking excuse for a drink."

Pissing him off even more, Qrow pulled back for another swing at his head. When he tried to hit him, Taiyang easily dodged it effortlessly, and then he grabbed on to Qrow's arm and threw him overhead behind him, sending him crashing into a nearby table, breaking it in the process.

"Hey! If you're gonna roughhouse take it out in the alley!" the bartender yelled at the two, "I don't need you and your drunk idiot friend to wreck my place up!"

"What the hell happened to you, Qrow?!" Taiyang yelled out as Qrow struggled to get back on his feet, "You left Summer while she was pregnant, you're gone for four years, and you don't even visit your own daughter!"

"Daughter?" Qrow questioned as he finally got still, "It's... It's a girl?"

"Summer named her Ruby," Taiyang confirmed, "Ruby Rose. She's three and now she has a deceased mother and runaway drunk of a father. Which is why I took full custody of her after Summer died."

"You... you what?!" Qrow yelled in shock and anger, "But she's mine!"

"She needed a father in her life, Qrow. It's for the best she believe that to be me," Taiyang stated, "I mean, do you honestly think that a scruffy looking stranger with the aroma of a bar is the best father figure?"

"I... Yeah I guess not," Qrow admitted, before questioning a certain word Taiyang used, "Scruffy looking?"

"Look, one day, we'll tell her, when she's older and if you clean your shit up," Taiyang made the terms, "And you can't tell anyone you're her father. I don't want it to spread and she find out from anyone but us. Agreed?"

"I...," Qrow wanted to say something but just sighed in defeat as he was backed into a corner, "O-okay, fine. I... I guess that's fine."

"Good. Now get ready," Taiyang ordered, "Time to go home."

-x-

(Present Day)

Qrow stood still and silent on top of the now snow covered cliff, looking at the gravestone baring rose symbol carved into it. Below the symbol read "Summer Rose" followed below by "Thus Kindly I Scatter". Qrow couldn't help but feel sadden by just looking at it, despite it being over a decade now. He sighed followed by taking a deep breath.

"Hey, I know it's... Well it's been a long while now," he started out, "It's just... It's getting harder, keeping the truth from her. Partly because, well how do I just tell her I'm her dad? But mostly, I still feel somewhat responsible for, well, this. I should have been there. To stop you from going, to fight with you, to bring you back home to her. But I wasn't, and as someone told me, I have to live with that. Not for myself. For her."

Qrow paused, as if he were waiting for a response.

"Summer, I know I made a horrible decision by leaving. I was no better than Raven. But unlike her, I came back, and I regret my choices. Somehow, I don't know how or when, but somehow, I'm going to make this right. You know, it's funny," he paused, reaching into his pocket and pulled out Ozpin's cane, "If Oz was here, he'd tell me that being honest would be the best thing right now. But of course, he's not here, and something dark is coming soon. I think honesty can wait just a little bit more. Who knows. Her birthday is coming around in a couple months. Maybe I'll get lucky and she'll be in a good mood and then I could tell her. Tell her about us."

He returned the cane back into his pockets.

"I wonder what you'd say if you were here right now," he thought before letting out a small laugh, "You'd probably just bite my head off about damaging a second cloak. Then you'd be excited to know Ruby has one too. It's just like yours, except red. You would have loved the young woman she turned out to be. You'd be just as proud of her as I am. And you can bet that as long as I live, I'm going to make sure she stays safe. I gotta go, but I'll make sure to come back soon. Goodbye, Summer... I love you."

Qrow turned and started to walk away from the grave. As he made his way, he could feel the tears that had been forming in the corners of his eyes roll down his face. He didn't bother wiping them away as nothing would come of a few shed tears. He reached the house and proceeded to enter it quietly. Exhausted, he planned to spend the next couple of hours unconscious on the couch. That was until he heard the sound of something falling to the floor, followed by running footsteps and then with Taiyang appearing at the stairs.

"Qrow!" he shouted with a worried look.

With no need to explain, Qrow turned back around and grabbed his scythe before leaving the house once again. He ran down the path as fast as he could, all the while thoughts began to flood his mind.

'What the hell is that girl thinking?!' he yelled in his mind, 'Doing this in winter! Doing this without telling us! Doing this at all! How can she be so reckless?!'

His mind stopped before he gave another small laugh.

"She really is my daughter, huh," he said with a smile.

As he ran, he remembered some of the good times he had spent with her in the last decade. One particular one came to mind

-x-

(8 years ago)

Qrow looked down at the now seven year old little girl who stood before him, with a guilty look on her. He had just walked in on her messing around with his cloak, the result being her tripping over it and tearing it.

"Look, Ruby, I'm not mad that you were playing with my cloak," he said softly, trying to not upset the child, "But, you shouldn't be taking things that aren't yours. This cloak is special to me, so you can see why I'm a little upset that it's ripped."

The little girl looked down at her feet, trying to avoid making eye contact with her uncle.

"I'm sorry Uncle Qrow," she apologized looking truly sorry for her actions, "I won't do it ever again. I promise."

"It's... It's okay. It's just," he paused to think of the right words, "This cloak was given to me by a good friend, so I care about it a lot."

After saying that, he watched as the little girl started getting upset. Her eyes beginning to water. Nose becoming stuffy. Taking quick breaths in, about to start crying.

"Ruby, I'm not mad," he kept clarifying, "Just please be careful with my stuff. Okay?"

Ruby soon began to stop herself from bawling.

"O-okay," she said.

"Now, how about you go clean up, and if you're good tomorrow, I'll make you your own cloak," he suggested, "How does that sound?"

"Really?!" she asked, "My own?!"

"You got it, kiddo," he clarified, "now, give me a hug and go get clean."

The little black and red tinted haired girl quickly ran into her uncle's arms.

"Love you, Uncle Qrow!"

"Love you too, Rosebud."

-x-

(Present Day)

Qrow looked off on top of a cliff to see his daughter, walking down a snowy path, accompanied by three of her friends from Beacon. He thought about confronting them, but something in the back of his head told him to just let them keep going. So he stood there, just watching them.

'I promise Summer, I'll bring our daughter back home,' he thought to himself, 'And then I'll tell her everything. But first, she needs to find herself. She needs to do this for her, without me getting in the way. But like I said, I'm gonna keep her safe. I swear on that.'

THE END

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this story. At times it felt like a chore, but I'm truly glad I kept to it. Please give me your true honest opinions about this chapter and the story as a whole. Until next time. Oh, and happy early Valentine's Day everyone.