Goldilocks

Disclaimer: RWBY is the intellectual property of Rooster Teeth. I claim no ownership.

Mothers were sort of a sensitive topic for her. Her family had gone through two before she even hit puberty. One had left before she ever knew her and the other was suddenly and irreversibly taken from them.

The only people that had consistently been there for her throughout her life had been her dad and her sister. She cherished the both of them all the more for it. They were a solid rock of love and support that she could cling to whenever things got rough. Even so, she couldn't help but seek out that motherly love she had only experienced briefly.

It didn't really feel unhealthy or wrong, per se. After all, who didn't hold a mother's love dear to themselves?

But then, wasn't a mother supposed to hold her children dear in turn? Wasn't she supposed to be there for her family? To kiss their scrapes and sooth their nightmares? For all that they could claim to be, Raven and Summer had their faults.

Raven could hardly be considered a mother in the first place. The proud woman made a show of being strong and independent. In reality, she was nothing more than a coward.

She had fled from her family, from her daughter at the first opportunity and never looked back. Many times had her absence been questioned, and many times had her dad's only response been 'I don't know' in that certain way that she now knew was him trying to hide his own pain. Eventually the questions had stopped, but the searching had begun.

Yang had spent years looking for any sign of her whereabouts. She never let that need consume her, but it never disappeared either.

Then when they finally found her, when Yang finally found the woman that gave birth to her, she dismissed it all. All the effort put into finding her was rewarded with a patronizing pat on the back and an offer to join her band of...well, bandits. Yang had refused, of course. Too focused on more important things. More important people.

Then she had turned on them. Joined hands with their enemy and raised her blade against them...against her. She eventually betrayed her temporary allies; not for any noble reason nor because she had a change of heart. She did it for survival.

In the end, the mother that Yang had sought out was nothing more than a scared woman looking after her own skin. She was no mother. She was barely even a woman in her eyes.

She was too selfish.

Summer was the opposite of Raven in nearly every way. She was kind. She was supportive. She was an open book of emotions and every chapter was entitled 'Love.' Her smile lit up the room and no one could be gloomy with her around. She was her namesake incarnate.

The years that Summer had spent as wife to her dad and a mom to her and her sister were her dearest memories. She was the kickass mom that came home from a day of slaying Grimm to bake cookies and read stories to her children. Summer was the woman she wanted to be when she grew up. She wanted to see the pride in her mom's eyes when she saw the person she had raised.

Then she was gone.

It was almost surreal when she looked back on it. One day she was there, kissing each of them goodbye before leaving on a mission. Then she just never came back.

Those were dark times for her childhood. She kept asking when mom was coming back, no matter how many times her dad had tried to explain that she wasn't. When it finally sunk in that Summer was truly gone, the question had turned from 'when' to 'why.'

As she grew up, she slowly began to understand why. Summer was the perfect Huntress. She was brave and caring and wouldn't ever run from a fight if it meant abandoning someone. Even if her death was inevitable, even if it meant never returning to her family again, she would have stayed and fought to the end. For all that she loved and admired Summer, she wasn't without her flaws.

She was too selfless.

A hand suddenly ruffled her hair. She quickly turned away from the window of the airship to face the perpetrator and was met with lilac eyes and an easy grin.

"Watchya doing over here all by yourself?" Yang asked. That boisterousness that once characterized her was subdued after everything that had happened, but it never completely left.

"Apparently making myself an easy target," Ruby grumbled as she fixed her hair. Yang's grin grew slightly and she stepped forward to look out the same window.

"So...we're gonna go see Weiss' home, huh?"

"Well, we're gonna see where Weiss grew up if that's what you mean," Ruby replied as she turned back around toward the window. "Her home's with us."

An arm looped around Ruby's shoulders and she was suddenly crushed against her sister.

"Oooh~ listen to my baby sister sounding all cool!"

"Y-Yang! Air!"

The pressure eased up, but Yang didn't fully release her. There was a moment of silence before Yang spoke up again.

"I'm so proud of you, Ruby," the blonde nearly whispered. She was looking down at Ruby with glimmering eyes that held nothing but love.

Ruby felt something in her throat and she buried her face into her sister's chest. Slowly her arms came up to return the hug that Yang had her trapped in.

"I'm glad you came back to us, Yang," she said, her words slightly muffled.

A hand came up and gently stroked the back of her head. "I was in a bad place for a bit, but I could never leave you alone, Rubes. I'll always be here for you."

It was truth. Ruby knew it was the truth down the deepest depths of her heart. Even after Summer had left, even with her issues with Raven's abandonment, even with their dad wallowing in his own despair, Yang had taken care of her. If there was anyone aside from Summer that Ruby could look up to, it would be the sister that raised her even when she was barely any older than herself.

She was just right.