𝕭𝖑𝖔𝖔𝖉𝖎𝖊𝖉 𝖇𝖚𝖙 𝖀𝖓𝖇𝖗𝖔𝖐𝖊𝖓

Mountain Glenn Run Red III

"...Mom?"

Ruby had gone to the door, expecting it to be Dante coming back late from training or something. What was behind the door instead was a woman wearing a frayed white caped hood. In her hand was the shiniest straightsword Ruby had ever seen, with strange engravings all over the blade, almost in the shape of runes. In her off-hand was a compact pistol-blade, also covered in engravings. And most of all, besides the beautiful weapons, she recognized the woman under the hood, and it was someone she had not seen in a long time.

The woman herself was not expecting much. It had been so long since she had seen her daughter after all. Would she recognize her, or not at all? Would she still consider her as her mother, or will she hate her for leaving her behind at such a young age? So many thoughts and so little time, for the woman found herself knocking on the door of the dorm room.

When she heard those words leave her daughter's mouth, she dropped her weapons unceremoniously and pulled her into a tight hug. "Ruby..." she said shakily, tears threatening to spill over.

Ruby sobbed, "Mom..." Yang got up from her bed the moment she heard Ruby cry, but she herself began to cry as well when she saw who it was. "Summer... So it WAS you..." The fiery girl ran up to Summer, who also pulled her into the hug.

"Oh Gods, Yang... Ruby... I missed you both so much..."

Blake and Weiss had stopped what they were doing to watch the emotional reunion as the mother and two daughters cried their eyes out. The two looked at each other for a moment, before looking back. After a few minutes, Summer calmed down enough to ask, "Mind if I... come inside?"

"O-Of course, mom," Ruby said with her winning smile as Summer walked in. "These are your teammates?" She asked as she pulled back her hood, revealing her smiling face. It was the same as all those years ago, save for a new set of scars.

It was like she had not changed at all.

But no one took notice of that. Certainly not Yang and Ruby, who were both too busy smiling to themselves and wiping away tears. "Yeah. These are our teammates, Blake and Weiss. Say hi, guys," said Yang. "Hello. I am Blake Belladonna, Yang's partner. A pleasure to meet you," Blake said, putting down her book to look at Yang and Ruby's mother properly. "My name is Weiss Schnee, hei-- partner of Ruby Rose. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you both too. The pleasure's all mine really. Being here brings back a lot of memories," Summer said as she looked about the room, her expression changing to worry for a moment as she regarded the haphazardly placed bunk beds. 

"...That does not look safe," she said as she began to look at the first bunk bed, which had the upper bed being held up by ropes, and the second being balanced on top of a stack of books. 

She read one of the titles in the stack. "Ninjas of Love, Volume 1..." she muttered. She did not miss how Blake seemed to blush in embarrassment and hide under the blanket. Summer recognized the title herself. She even vaguely remembered owning the prequel novels that spawned it, and she wonders if it is still sitting on those shelves in Patch...

"It's fine mom. We've been sleeping here for a few months now, and it hasn't caved in yet," Ruby said in an attempt to not worry her. "Yet," Weiss parroted their leader, and all Ruby could do was look at her in a failed attempt to shut her up.

"If you girls think it is safe, then it is safe." Summer said with a chuckle. "Oh, almost forgot." She said as she went over to the open door and picked up her weapons. She sheathed the longsword and holstered her pistol-blade and pulled up a chair.

Ruby then asked the big question. "Where have you been all this time, mom?"

Summer's face seemed to fall, guilt and shame evident. "You want the full story?"