208

"It's over…" Qrow muttered, sitting down in the surprisingly warm, spring meadow that had sprung up in the crater where Salem had effectively died, completely spent and wincing as he completely laid down and set Harbinger II down, staring up at the aurora filled night sky while the sounds of celebration and disbelief rang out around him. "Gods above you finally did it Oz. It's finally over and done with…"

"It sure is… I'm pooped," Summer huffed, flopping down by Qrow's side as though she'd never left, dragging Tai and Raven alongside her and grinning as she laid down in the warm, soft grass that still felt like sunshine despite the night sky overhead. "It's been nonstop for me… fucking hell… did you guys know I got stuck in a fucking fairytale for the last decade? It felt like a hundred fucking years…"

"... Well. I see a decade hasn't managed to take away the potty mouth," Qrow responded without thinking, then winced and trembled, almost gasping as his mind fully processed that Summer was here. Alive. Smiling. Happy. Whole.

As though she'd never left.

She looked different now, sure. Longer hair, messier clothes, a different cloak that was pure white intead of white with a red interior… but it was still her. And…

"... I missed you, Summer," Qrow sighed, reaching out and gently taking Summer's hand, feeling as though a part of him had come back from the grave- as though her was just that little bit more whole than he had been before. And… he was. Even after almost a decade apart… he could still feel that familiar buzz of Summer's soul against his. Of his soul against Raven's. Of Tai's soul on the other side. 

"And I missed all of you," Summer grinned, holding them all close with a surprising amount of strength despite all of their completely depleted Auras, just the barest amount left for them to buzz and press against each other with their synchronization. Raven was the really surprising part in all of this, having completely stripped off her armor in order to lay on top of Summer, looking more vulnerable than she ever had since the time when they were all happy together. Young, carefree, screaming at Raven to wear clothes before going outside… screaming at Summer to stop lounging around naked… screaming at Tai that he burned his clothes off again… screaming at him that somehow his bad luck left him naked again…

…

"... We were all just thinking about how many times we were naked around each other, right?" Tai spoke up awkwardly, clearing his throat as he raised his free hand and tried not to blush thinking about how his two wives' butts were permanently seared in to his memory. Also Qrow's butt, but for different reasons. "I swear, that just rippled through the connection just now."

"... Sorry. Couldn't help thinking about how much I wanna rip off Sumsum's clothes right now," Raven chuffed, glaring balefully at Tai and Qrow in turn before nuzzling into Summer's chest with a purr that sounded more catlike than the bird she really was. "That, or burrow into them."

"If you do that, I'm gonna keep calling you my little songbird, Raerae," Summer chuckled, using her spent reservoir of Aura to brush up against Raven's soul, full of laughter and love and gentle ribbing for all the times that she'd done just that in the past. 

"... If you do that I'm gonna personally un-mom Yang and Ruby again," Raven hissed back, gritting her teeth and trying to pretend that she wasn't hugging Summer around the waist like her life depended on it. "I'll fucking do it this time, I swear!"

"You've said that how many times now?" Qrow groaned, rolling his eyes at his idiot sister and flicking the side of her head with his free hand. "Just give it a rest already. We all know that of the two people you've slept with in your life, you can't stab either of them, and if you try to stab me I'm stabbing you right back."

"S-shut the fuck up , Qrow!" Raven spluttered, blushing and looking away by burying her face into Summer's tunic top and letting out a muffled groan of pure embarrassment. 

"I'm… sorry I left, though," Summer sighed after a moment, cutting through the atmosphere like a knife as the mood dropped with her words, their recovering Auras pulsing against each other in silent understanding as she spoke. "... I… I did what I thought was right. But… I guess I never did learn how to rely on other people as much as I thought I did. O-or learn how not to take the weight of the world on my shoulders. Raven… I'm sorry I made you come with me. And I'm sorry I abandoned you."

"You… you didn't abandon me! You got dragged into a grimm pit and died! I- I watched you die… a-and…" Raven sniffled, shaking her head. She seemed unable to speak, just radiating her emotions out like a cloud of despair and self loathing that seemed so at odds with the Raven that seemed once so confident and happy… well. Up until the point that everything seemed to all come crashing down at once in one long, slow, inevitable fall up until the point that she broke. "I wish I'd died with you, in that pit. At least then I'd have been with you wherever you went."

"... Raven… no… I- I wanted you to live… to survive and grow strong and… guh… just one more failure on the throne of lies that is Summer Rose," Summer huffed out, full of self- recrimination and annoyance as she stared up at the shattered moon, biting her lip as she tried not to fall into a self cycling spiral of despair. "I… Tai. Qrow. I'm so, so sorry. I…"

"... Not right now. Maybe when we're in a better place. When we have time and privacy to yell at each other and get it all out. When… when we're all home," Tai murmured quietly, shaking his head and cutting off any argument before it could start, his Aura surging despite having given up almost everything earlier, pulsing just strong enough that all four of them could feel the warmth and sunlight of his soul… and the hidden dragon roaring within. "Let's just… enjoy being all in one place again. Together. And… move forward together. We were a Team once… let's be a family again."

"... Yeah. I can agree to that…" Qrow sighed, shaking his head sardonically and giving Tai a slight grin from the opposite side of Summer. "What do you guys think?"

"... Fine. But only because I'm tired… and because I don't know if the Maiden powers are gonna come back," Raven groaned, shifting positions so she could flop even further down onto Summer, her entire body going almost completely limp as she buried her face into her wife's boobs. "Gods I missed this…"

"... Just don't suffocate yourself in them like you almost did in fourth year," Summer snorted, grinning down at Raven. She let out a quiet sigh, arms entwining around Qrow and Tai's shoulders and bringing them all in for a warm, tight hug that she hadn't been able to have in a long, long time. "... I'm glad to be back, though. I… get the feeling I've got a lot of missed birthdays to make up for. And a lot of time with Ruby and Yang… and Cinder, apparently?"

"... Yeah. You're gonna love 'em, though. Ruby's just like you."

"... Mm… gonna get punched aren't I?"

"Probably."

"... Yeah. Alright."