The dark haired woman spoted a man crouching down, tending to the bed of flowers that sat underneath the window. The older man heard the arrival of his new guest, he stood from his crouched position, letting out a frustrated sigh. The Blonde-haired man clenched his fists, as his eyes fell on the woman that stood in front of his home. "Raven", He growled through his teeth.
"We need to talk", her voice was firm as she rested her hand on the hilt of her sword.
"Go on then, talk", he glared at the dark haired woman. Raven couldn't help but take in the man's appearance, to say the least, the man she once knew so well had aged terribly. His eyes held dark bags under them, the years of stress written on his face.
"Not here, in the house", She told him as she started to walk towards the front door, looking around the forest for any sign of unwanted guests.
"That's not happening", his voice was firm, stepping between the front door and the woman that once belonged to his team. "You're not coming into my home." The blonde haired man's voice was full of anger.
"Trust me, if there was a safer place to talk, we would be talking there, but there isn't". Raven rolled her eyes, given Tai a board look.
"Fine", Tai dropped his head in defeat as she walked past him, bumping into his shoulder as she entered his home. Raven stood inside she waited for Taiyang to join her in the living room. The man entered the house, avoiding eye contact with the woman he once shared the home with, pushing past her, he walked towards the kitchen.
Raven followed him before she entered the kitchen a picture caught her eye. The photograph had a young girl not much older than six, with blonde pigtails and a cheesy grin, hugging a much younger girl with brunette hair, while a woman with a white cloak hugged both of the girls, her smile reached her eyes looking happier than Raven had ever seen her.
Raven's chest tightened at the sight of the picture, whether it was from the grief of never being able to see the woman she once called a friend again, or maybe it was because of the blonde in the picture. The young girl looked so happy, unaware that the woman who was hugging her was not her mother. Raven couldn't help but feel jealous of the woman in the picture.
Raven was sent back to reality when she heard a cupboard door shut. The dark-haired woman watched as Tai started making two cups of coffee. Raven walked inside the kitchen, watching the man closely, despite fighting side by side with him for many years she didn't trust him.
"What do you want, Raven?", Tai turned to the woman, who stood at the kitchen entrance. Folding his arms across his chest, Raven smirked at the man trying to be intimidating.
"Have you realised what you've done?", the older man raised an eyebrow in question. "You shouldn't have let her go", The woman sounded pissed, as the man's eyes widened in shock.
"What?", he couldn't believe that this woman, who had abandoned the family they had built, thought, she had the right to tell him what was the best thing to do for his daughter.
"Oh right because you know best, don't you?", Raven tensed at his words. "I should've just let Yang lay in bed, for the rest of her life, I should have let her isolate herself from the rest of the world. Because that would be the best option for her, wouldn't it?". Tai's voice was strong as he stared down the woman in his house.
"She's not ready", Raven shot back, folding her arms to her chest matching his glare.
"You don't know what you're talking about", Tai dropped his glare slouching over.
"We both know that isn't true, you know what's out there, who's out there." Tai hated to admit it, but Raven was right. There wasn't a time since Yang had left, he wondered if he had made the right decision, to let the young girl go by herself. "and yet you send our daughter out there to face that woman.", Raven was practically yelling.
"My daughter", The blonde man lifted his head with a stern stare.
"What?", raven asked, caught off guard by the man's sudden words.
"You said our daughter, Yang is my daughter", the man growled through his teeth. Raven straightened up, her fist clenched.
"I'm her mother", Raven's hand landed on her chest as she spoke the words.
"No, your the woman who gave birth to her, you gave up that title when you left. Summer was her mother, and she did a better job than you could ever do.", Tai was angry, angrier than he had been in years. But he didn't miss the hurt that showed on her face for a moment. "Crow told me, what you wanted him to tell Yang after you saved her." The woman gave him a cautious look.
"What about it?" she questioned him.
"You're calling yourself a mother, but then you turn around and basically say you won't save her again. What mother does that and I hate to think what you've done to her now, I mean why else are you here." Raven couldn't hide her anger.
"Don't give me that crap, you're not the picture perfect parent either", the Huntsman pushed himself off the cabinet, he had been leaning on.
"What is that meant to mean", he threw his hands out in front of him
"Crow talks to me as well,", Raven lowered her voice knowing that she had caught him off guard. "He came looking for me when summer had died, begged me to come home because of you. I found out the full story of how you weren't able to cope with a baby, practically neglecting her, he told me if it wasn't for Summer coming along he wasn't sure what would have happened with Yang." Tai flinched at her words, he felt betrayed by his oldest friend telling his ex about such things. Raven smirked she wasn't done tearing him down. "But wait a moment, it doesn't end there, while you were wallering about in your own sorrow, you left YOUR daughter to help raise summers child." Raven watched as the man deflated right in front of her.
"Oh, that's right, you allowed YOUR child to take care of an infant child. She pushed her own sorrow beside because she knew her father wasn't going to do anything, I might have only saved her ones but at least I never robbed her of her childhood.", This really hit Taiyang hard.
"Your right", he let out a defeated sigh. "I will never be the father of the year, I really messed up with Yang and I know that. But I thank god that she was strong enough to get Ruby through that time, at least both of them didn't lose their childhood as well.", He gave the woman an intense stare. "After the battle of Beacon, I thought I lost both my girls. but the truth was, I only lost one of them. Yang was so broken when she came home, I didn't know what to do, I wasn't used to seeing her like that. it was as if someone had dulled the fire that was inside her.", he started to fidget with his hands. "So your right she probably isn't ready to go out there again, but I was so relieved when she said she wanted to go looking for Ruby, I allowed her to go because I know she's not going to get better staying here. I saw the fire come back when she had a goal, and I refuse to take it away after all I had no right". Raven dropped her gaze to the floor, she thought if she pointed out the man's faults she would feel better.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that", her voice was low. " You and Summer did a great job with her. She's a strong girl, and I know she'll be a great huntress."
"Yeah, she will," Tai spoke softly. "her stubbornness will make sure of that." he let out a small laugh. "Summer said her stubbornness rivalled your own." Raven flinched at the sound of her friend's name.
"She must have hated that. I can't remember how many fights we used to have because I couldn't admit when I was wrong, and even for someone who avoided arguing with friends she couldn't help, but tell me off." Raven had a soft smile on her face.
"Summer never hated that, she loved it. Yang reminded her so much of you, she would sometimes say while Yang was around you'll never be away." He gave a soft smile of his own. "Just so you know Summer never hated you for leaving she just wished she knew where you were". Raven felt a lump in the back of her throat as she talked about her old friend.
"I wasn't there for Yang, but it still scares me, if anything happened to her." Thai nodded in understanding at Raven's words.
"I know," he let out a laugh "We really screwed up with Yang, the kid didn't stand a chance with us. But I have no doubt she's only going to get stronger from this point on", Tai went back to making coffee, while Raven stared blankly through the wall, her mind reminded her how much she had missed out on.