RWBYond Hope

AN: Welcome to a new story. This one, if you couldn't tell by the description, is about Ruby's childhood. If you're a returning reader of mine, I have a poll asking who your favorite villain from RWBYond Vale was.

Chapter 1: Her Mother's Eyes

Tai sat out in the hallway. The pained screams of his wife echoed through the hallway. Part of him was nervous. He already had one toddler who was already a handful. How was he going to handle another one? Could he handle another one? How long would it take for Summer to recover? How was he going to provide for a whole other mouth to feed without Summer bringing in money from hunts? Was Qrow going to pitch in? Could he pitch in? Was he even getting paid for playing delivery boy for Ozpin? If so, did he even have enough for himself? He could always move in, it's not like Tai had any say in the matter, it was Summer's house and she wouldn't say no to a total stranger, let alone Qrow.

And just as it had in this point when Raven was giving birth, Tai thought about how it came to this. Summer had taken charge the minute Raven left. When Tai tried going after her, Summer literally slapped sense into him. Tai had nearly broken down, even knowing months ahead of time what Raven's decision was, he couldn't believe it. How could someone just…leave their family behind.

Speaking of her family, Summer had nearly put Qrow in the hospital when he tried going after Raven. Summer was adamant that none of them could find Raven unless she wanted them to. They had their own lives, their own responsibilities to worry about. If Raven didn't want to be a part of this, then there was no room for a search party. Being a parent wasn't just a job. It was a twenty-four-seven responsibility. And Summer had fed Yang, gave her baths, cut her hair, picked out clothes, painted her room, made her bed, played with her, sang to her, read to her, even changed her diapers. She did all the things a mother was able to do. For that reason, after a year of this, Tai decided that Yang's mother WAS Summer.

Summer was against lying. She wanted Yang to know and understand that she was loved for the sake of love, not some familial obligation. Qrow was neutral. He wanted to tell Yang the truth, but he also knew, probably more than anyone at that point, how dangerous that could be. That Branwen drive for knowledge and power was supposedly genetic. So they decided to shy away from the truth until she was ready, until they were all ready.

And then Yang said her first words and called Summer mama. Summer broke down and cried. She cradled Yang and nestled her up against her face. With tears in her eyes she told Yang that yes, she was her mama.

It was just a few days later that Tai and Summer found some free time in the afternoon to have some coffee. Yang had just fell asleep to take a nap. Summer celebrated that Yang was picking up language pretty early, even though she could only say a few words and took serious prodding.

"I feel lucky you know." Summer said. "I get to play all the best parts of being a mother and didn't have to go through hours of labor to do it."

"Just wait until she's a teenager." Tai joked. "It might look like a Xiao Long time from now…"

"I'm sure I can handle it." Summer said.

"You're a great mom." Tai said.

"You're a great dad." Summer took a sip of her coffee. She stared at him intently, frustration laced on her face. "Still, I wonder what it would be like…to have a whole person growing inside of you."

"Sounds like the beginning of a bad scary movie." He grinned.

"Tai, I'm being serious." Summer said. "Have you ever thought about having another one? Just to give Yang a playmate."

"I don't see how that would be possible." Tai said obliviously.

"Screw it, I tried being subtle." Summer shot up to her feet and grabbed Tai around the collar. "For over a year now, I have been giving you smiles and glances and bedroom eyes and changed half my wardrobe to be more appealing." She kissed him on the lips feverishly.

"Wait…what?"

"God…damn it Tai. You are so freaking stupid." She pulled him into another kiss, this time he wasn't completely shocked and helpless. He tried to kiss her back but he was having trouble keeping up. "I love you! You, big, stupid oaf." She kissed him again.

"Huh." Tai's world opened up. Sure, he had thought about it these last few weeks, maybe even months. The glances he sort of noticed, but he thought it was more for Yang's sake. He didn't even notice the wardrobe change. Then again, really looking at her now and comparing it to Beacon, he didn't think Summer knew what a wardrobe change was.

"Oh God." She put him back down and turned bright red. "I'm so sorry. I…I know you're probably still getting over Raven. And you probably don't really think of me that way. I just thought, if we're parenting Yang we should be a couple because I really love you and always have."

"Wait, why are you apologizing?"

"I was selfish and rash. I got so frustrated that I didn't take your feeling into account and now I made things awkward and…" Tai cut her off with a kiss.

"Summer…it's fine." Tai said. "I'm over Raven. I really AM just that oblivious. Seriously, even looking back on it now. I still don't see the changes. I mean, you do realize a cape is part of a wardrobe right?"

"I…" Summer examined her cape and hood and seemed to realize that her hot outfit was nearly completely obscured by it. "Well I guess I always gave you those looks. Still…I'm a reasonably attractive girl and you're a hot blooded man. I'm shocked and kind of offended that you didn't jump at the chance to sleep with me."

"Okay that…that is me being a gentle man who also happens to have had a very recent ass kicking of the heart." Summer blushed at how sweet his words were. Tai took her into his arms. "But now that everything is out on the table…how about I take you out on the table."

"What does that even…" He spun her around and kicked her heel out, pulling her into a kiss as she leaned onto the table.

That was how all this started. They started doing the typical things people do. They went on dates, they parented Yang. They did things as a family and about a year later, Summer was ready to pop a baby out. Tai had gotten wicked flashbacks of how vengeful Raven had been with morning sickness. Summer was much more…pathetic. Groaning and crying all the time. Sitting by the laundry machine and crying for no reason. Truly the process of growing a human was a strange and terrible thing that Tai was SO glad he was biologically incapable of.

Which brought him back to the present. Yang was laying on her stomach on the floor at his feet. She had a crayon in one hand and was scribbling massive circles on a piece of paper. At least this wasn't as loud as her previous activity, banging the toy cars into each other while making vroom sounds.

"Mr. Xiao Long." The nurse said. "She's ready."

Tai hadn't even realized that the screams had stopped. Tai walked in with Yang hand in hand. Summer was cooing a silent baby wrapped in white towels. Tai walked over to the bed in nervousness. Yang stared up at her mama and her new little sister with a mixture of curiosity and awe. When Tai looked at his loving girlfriend he saw so much hope and joy and absolute beauty in her eyes. But she also had a little bit of dread. Tai peeked at his new born daughter and saw her eyes, wide and silver just like her mother's.

"Have you thought of a name." Tai said. He reached for his youngest daughter. Summer gently passed him the baby and started singing a song.

"Red like roses fill my dreams." She sang. Tai noted the little specks of red hair sprouting from her forehead. "Ruby Rose."

"Rose?" Tai asked.

"She is my daughter…she…" Summer's face drew a frown.

"If this is about Raven…"

"No it's not…good heavens no it's not about that." Summer turned her head. "Silver eyes shine brightest in the dark of the night. A mirror that shows not the world as is but as might. It is her heritage. Rose and silver go hand in hand. It's the same as I. By the same logic that you, and Yang, and so many others were born I should be Summer Seasons, not Summer Rose. Rose was my mother's name and it was her father's before her."

"So you're saying that because she has silver eyes, she's part of this clan of yours."

"Yep." Summer said with a pop.

"Well you could have just said it instead of all that, whatever it was."

"Hey you try pushing a kid out and then string together simplified thoughts." Summer shot out.

Tai just gave a laugh and kissed Summer on the cheek. He cradled Ruby in his arms and she made some kind of gurgling sound. He looked down at Yang who was staring up at the bundle of towels like she was in some sort of trance. Her hand was clenched tightly around Tai's pant leg.

"Het pumpkin." He said. "Want to see your baby sister."

"Sis…ser" Yang struggled out. Tai squatted down to show Yang. Yang's jaw dropped when she saw the newborn staring blankly up at her. "BaBy." Yang pointed.

"That's right Yang. This is your baby sister Ruby." Tai said. "Do you want to hold Ruby?"

"Ru…By?" Yang pointed at her.

"That's right Ruby, now what's your name?"

"Yang!" She said cheerfully as she pointed a thumb to herself.

"You see Ruby; this is your big sister Yang." Ruby reached up for Yang and grabbed the toddlers finger. Yang shook said hand and watched Ruby's grip tightening. Tai picked Yang up and set both down in a chair. He adjusted them to where Yang was holding her in an appropriate way. He then sat next to Summer and laid his head down on her lap.

"They look so cute together." Summer said. "She laced her fingers through his hair." Tai dug in his pocket so that he could take a picture on his scroll.

"Excuse me." The nurse said. "I need to see Ruby now."

"I got to get the kid home anyway." Tai reluctantly got up. "I'll be back when it's time for you to come home." He kissed her on the lips. Her lips were coarse and dry. He parted them and walked over to Yang. When the nurse reached for Ruby, Yang flinched and pulled Ruby away, her eyes flashing for an instant. She looked angry for half a second before looking at the nurse curiously and looking to her dad.

"Give your sister to the nice nurse lady." Summer said. Yang looked back at the nurse and reluctantly gave Ruby to the nurse.

"You are going to be a great big sister." Tai said as he picked up Yang.

"The bestest." Yang said with a smile. Tai gave her a sloppy kiss causing her to laugh.

"Let's give mommy and Ruby some rest. We get to go home and watch all the cartoons without them." Yang lit up.

"Yippee." She cheered. Knowing that Yang was, either by instinct or choice, protective of Ruby, eased Tai's mind. He wasn't sure if he could handle them being at each other's throats all day for the next fifteen years or more. And what a long fifteen days it would be.

An: Please review, follow and favorite. This story is going to have 25 chapters of varying length, with a chunk dedicated to it's own little arc that is much more akin to my previous stories. Which if you haven't read them, do so. All my stories are interconnected and add to the bigger picture of Remnant as I have envisioned it. By the way, Bubbajack, when you eventually read this, that flashback segment was for you.