The Bird and the Garden

Chapter 15: The Vytal Festival (Part Two)

Team RTRN lost the Tournament, and Salem is furious. Has her plan been foiled, right before the big reveal? Who knows?

And with the brothers... what happens when VAO is confronted with his biggest fear? How will he react, and how will it affect others?

And Y/N? How will he respond to the events that are about to occur? Will he be able to protect the people he cares about? Or will he fail?

One thing is certain: nothing will be the same again.

I hope you enjoy.

...

Summer had finished drying her hands, and left the bathroom. The faint roars of the audience echoed through the corridors as she walked, her feet landing quietly as she moved. She wanted to congratulate her son and nephew for trying, but deep down she knew she couldn't. She knew they were scared of her; and it hurt. It hurt knowing she lost the chance to apologize years ago. She knew, that she could never have Y/N and VAO look at her the same way they did seventeen years ago, when they were only babies. She could never hold her child again, and it hurt. It hurt worse than the pain in her stomach, the hunger that gnawed at her insides even now.

And Summer's friendship with Raven had been torn. After years of referring to VAO as her own child, she couldn't help but see him that way, and it made Raven upset. Now, her teammate avoided her, and didn't speak to her unless it was necessary. Summer felt bad about it; she and Raven had been friends since they attended Beacon. And now that friendship was torn, and Summer believed it to be Raven's fault. After all, she gave VAO away, and ordered him not to be referred as a Branwen. Summer told herself that, but she couldn't stop feeling guilty about her broken friendship.

Qrow had been talking about making progress with Y/N. According to him, he had started talking to Ruby again, and Yang, too. Summer remembered when she first heard the news about Ruby.

She had cried all night, unable to sleep with the backbreaking guilt that rested upon her shoulders. She blamed herself for being reclusive. She wished she had spent more time in Ruby's life, and talked to her once in a while. She blamed herself for Ruby's suicide attempts; she believed if she had been a better mother, it would never have happened. And now Ruby would have the scars forever: the rope burn around her throat would never disappear, and she would never stand up again. It hurt so much, to see her child go through this. Summer believed she was a terrible mother, a person beyond redemption. She blamed herself for everything.

It was her fault her family was broken. She wanted a second chance; and she knew she had been given too many chances. She'd never get another one. Y/N and VAO didn't dare come close. They were terrified of her. She'd never get the chance to see them smile, to hear them laugh.

She could almost see another world, in another time. A world where she never put her children through any of this. The sun would be shining brightly against the green grass of the park. Eating ice cream on a bench together, as a family.

That reality could have been true, and Summer knew that. It hurt, knowing it could never happen. She could feel her heart begin to ache, and her eyes grew wet. She missed the good days. She missed when Y/N and VAO had been born. Those seemed to be the golden days. When she wasn't angry at them; when they could laugh and have the childhood they deserved.

She took that childhood from them, and that was what hurt the most. Every child deserves a happy childhood, and she stole that from Y/N and VAO. Because of her, they could never look back on their younger days and smile. It was her fault that they were as damaged as they were now; and that hurt Summer the most. She began to turn a corner, when another force bowled her over. The two figures fell to the ground, their heads aching. Summer looked up at the stranger.