RWBY Through Worlds

138: Shadows Chase Me

"No, no, just never really thought you'd see it her way," Tai said.

"I don't!" Yang said. "I'm still furious at her. I just want to know exactly how much of it was her fault, that's all...I mean did you guys basically make her leave, or did she leave on her own."

"I never told her to leave," Tai said.

That was...kind of a vague answer, Yang noticed.

"What did you say," she frowned.

"Yang it's been a long time, and I'm not sure I really want to rehash it," Tai said.

Yang gave him a long look.

Tai sighed again. "It was Qrow more who said it, but he did make it pretty clear that Raven was turning her back on us all by changing her mind. That she was quitting. Raven just told us that she wasn't sticking around to fight a losing war and we shouldn't either."

"And me?" Yang said. "What about me?"

Tai hesitated.

"Well, we didn't want to drag you into it," he said. "You were just a baby...but I wasn't going to let you be raised in a bandit tribe, who would agree to that? They're really rough on people, Qrow warned me about that. Raven never argued about it, she just left."

"Wait a moment," Yang said. "Are you saying that she would have taken me with her?"

"She could have," Tai said. "But Qrow always kept an eye out for where she was. So if she had we'd have found you...the bandits aren't a safe place to grow up, Yang. But I think she decided not to anyway. Clearly, I mean you would remember that. And then Summer and I got together, and you had a mom, so I didn't really worry about you missing out on that."

Yang frowned. "But you knew I'd wonder."

"I knew, and I did tell you she left," Tai said. "I knew you looked for her for years."

"But you also knew she was watching me," Yang suddenly realized. "And her semblance, and that if you'd told me about that, I could have found her ages ago...she just watched me look for her--all these times I remember I saw birds around me, randomly, that was her and Qrow, wasn't it?"

Tai didn't deny it.

"But she never talked to me!" Yang said. "And I thought that was because she didn't care--but then why did she watch? Dad...tell me it wasn't that you told her not to."

Tai was quiet way too long.

"Dad?" Yang's eyes turned red.

"I wouldn't say I ever said that out right," Tai said. "I'd catch her watching you sometimes when you were really little. I did worry that one day she'd just take you with her, she could have, like I said. With her semblance...It wasn't anything we actually discussed in words, but I always took her watching you as a bird as kind of her compromising, so you'd never know it was her and you would try to follow her. I think your mom wanted you to grow up in a better environment. Maybe. I don't know, she doesn't talk about her motive a whole lot, you notice. I mean has she told you anything?"

"She told me that it was because of you guys not believing her that she left, at least mostly," Yang said. "And I didn't want to hear it, because it's sounded really stupid. But then I got to thinking about how you knew she could turn on a bird, and that all those times she was around me, you probably knew that too, and so did Uncle Qrow, and neither of you said a d----thing." Hey eyes were still red. 

"I don't know if she would have talked to you even if we did."

"But I'll never know now!" Yang said. "She might have. But either way, I'd have liked to know she was watching. At least maybe I would have felt a little less forgotten about."