A/N:

Decided to give this a little continuation! Might post some more of these from time to time. As before, this is set after RWBY's second year at Beacon, during the winter break before IMEBG and Panoply.

As another chilly winter day broke over Patch, Taiyang sat on the tree stump outside his home. His legs were crossed, his back was straight, and his hands were held carefully in his lap, his thumbs just barely touching.

He breathed in slowly, letting his eyes drift shut as he listened to the sounds of the forest around him. The songs of the winter birds, sharp and high and joyful. The rustle of something in the trees just beyond the edge of the clearing. Too small and subtle to be a Grimm. A lone deer? Still too small… a raccoon, maybe.

He let the breath go, and tried to let the nerves out with it. No threats. I am home. I am safe.

With his next breath, he focused on the pale smell of melting snow and moist earth. The gentle nip of the pine trees. The faint tang of smoke from the fireplace. The—

The sound of quiet boots crunching on snow.

A smirk touched the corner of Tai's mouth. "You've gotten a lot sneakier, kiddo. Almost missed you."

"Aw, come on!"

Tai chuckled, opening his eyes to find her, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the light of day again. "Good morning, Ruby! Sleep okay?"

"Mhm!" Ruby beamed. She fidgeted, for a moment, then darted over to sit on the big stump beside him. "Can I join you?"

"You wanna meditate with your stuffy old man?" A new scent reached his nose. "Is that bacon?"

"Yup!" Ruby kicked her feet, leaning on his shoulder a little. "Weiss is making breakfast! She doesn't like it when people watch her cook. It stresses her out, I think?"

Another warning bell rang in the back of Tai's head. He silenced it. "So I'm your second choice, huh?" he said, slinging an arm around his daughter's shoulders and pulling her into a noogie.

Ruby giggled, swatting him away again. "Daaaad! Stoooop! I'm seventeen! "

Tai let up, and smiled when Ruby went right back to leaning on him. She'd always been a huggy kid, but there'd been a point where she'd stopped showing that side of herself around him.

"You seem a lot happier," he said, almost without meaning to. Ruby's legs stopped swinging.

"Yeah, I guess I am," she said. "It's… so weird. I am happier, but I'm also… super nervous?"

"About?" Tai asked. His eyes flicked to the house briefly. He had a pretty good guess.

Ruby was silent for a bit, drumming her fingers on her thigh. "How did you know… that you loved mom?" she asked, point blank.

Tai had a brief flash of an old memory.

"What does it feel like to you?" she asked, her arms crossed, her red eyes refusing to meet his own, but carrying so much unspoken feeling. "How can you be so sure that this is the real thing?"

He shook himself out of it. It was strange to see a bit of her in Ruby, but… maybe not the strangest thing in the world.

"Hmm," he said, finally going back to the question asked. "That's tough, kid. He closed his eyes, letting images of Summer flash behind his lids—but they were intercut with her as well, and for once he didn't stop them.

"Being in love was like… giving away a piece of myself. It tore a hole in me, and… you're old enough to know by now, that it still feels like that a lot of the time."

Ruby nodded, her kicking stopped as she leaned on him harder.

"But it's not all bad," Tai continued, gently tousling his daughter's hair. "When you give someone that piece of you, sometimes, if you're lucky… they'll give you a part of themselves, too."

"So you fill each others' holes?" Ruby said.

Tai choked, barely stopping himself from falling off the stump. Ruby looked up at him with innocent bewilderment… which lasted about three seconds before she broke out in a snickering fit and tumbled away from him and into the grass.

"Ruby!" Tai scolded, though he was laughing a little too hard to make it bite. "What's Beacon teaching you kids!?"

Ruby laughed harder, rolling around on the ground as rose petals showered the grass around her, and Tai had another flash, a scene that was almost identical but for the color of the cape and the second pair of ears on Summer's head (and for how it ended, when Raven walked out the front door in an apron and yelled that—)

"Breakfast is ready!"

Tai looked up sharply, finding white hair instead of black, blue eyes instead of red, and felt a smile tick the corner of his lips.

"Be there in a minute!" Ruby yelled back, quickly rolling to her feet and hurriedly dusting herself off. Weiss regarded her for a moment with a skeptical stare, until Zwei trotted up to the screen door to join her. They looked at each other, and Tai thought he heard Weiss mumble, "how can you stand to live with them?" as she walked back into the house.

Tai shook his head, unable to hide his smile. What a weird world.

"Hey, dad?"

He looked up. "Hm?"

"Can I… ask you something else?"

Ruby fidgeted, her hands fluttering a little like they always did when she got really worked up. "Um…" she mumbled, her eyes darting to the door where Zwei still stood.

Tai figured if his daughter could make bawdy jokes at him now, she was old enough he could give her a little grief himself. He flicked his eyes meaningfully towards the house. "So I take it that's why you're asking me what love feels like?"

Ruby's face went even redder, and her hands flapped wildly as she tried to come up with a denial that sounded sincere. Eventually, she slumped back with a low groan. "…It's super obvious, right?"

"Only a little," Tai laughed. He stood up and pulled her into a hug, squeezing until she squeaked. "Aw, my little rosebud's growing up. And she's into Weiss Schnee, of all people."

"Hey!" Ruby threw him off with surprising strength, and he caught a flash of genuine anger in her eyes for a second, before she caught herself. "She… doesn't like it when people call her that," she mumbled, eyes falling.

Tai felt a flutter of pride. And there's me, I guess. "Okay, okay," he said. "I'll remember that. Thank you for telling me."

Ruby nodded, turning back to look at the forest. Her eyes glittered in the sunlight. "She's just… she's so amazing, and pretty, and… I l-like her a lot, and I dunno if she even likes girls, y'know? I feel like I want to be with her all the time, but also like why would someone so amazing ever think of me this way?"

Tai felt a pang of old anguish. "You really are our daughter, huh?" he sighed, laying his hand on her shoulder. "Ruby, you're amazing too. She's already lucky to have you as a partner. She'd be luckier to have you as a girlfriend."

Ruby's words failed her completely at that, and she turned and hugged him tight, pressing her face into his shirt. "Mmmnnnn," she mumbled, squeezing him hard.

He squeezed her back. "I'm here, sweetie, I'm here."

"I'm scared though," Ruby mumbled. "What if it wrecks everything? We've got two more years at Beacon, I don't want her to be stuck together with me if… if I make her uncomfortable. I want to… to give her that piece of me—" She clutched at her shirt, her eyes agonizingly wide. "—but… I dunno what I'm gonna do if she doesn't return it."

"Yeah, love sucks like that," Tai sighed. He looked up at the sky, absently searching for the silhouette of wings. Nothing today, it seemed.

Was it wrong, to wish she was around for things like this?

"Well," he said, stroking his daughter's hair. "I think you should still tell her."

"Wh! But—"

"Ruby, your sister's dating a girl too, last time I checked. Has Weiss said or done anything to make you think she doesn't approve?"

Ruby deflated. "Well, no, but I mean, it's different when someone's interested in you."

"Yeah, it is," Tai sighed. "It really is, but… it's not fair to just bottle this up. Not to her, and especially not to yourself. It sounds like you've already got a hole in your chest, Rosebud, and it's not going to hurt less until she either fills it in, or you give up and let it start to heal."

"That sucks, though," Ruby mumbled.

"Yup! Buuuuut, it could be great too, if you let it."

Weiss reappeared in the doorway, crossing her arms and tapping her foot. "Would you like me to bring your plates out to you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nnnope! We're coming!" Ruby shouted back. She squeezed Tai one more time before letting him go. She looked like she wanted to say something, but the words weren't coming to her. After a moment, she just smiled, gave him one last hug, and burst off towards the door.

Tai smiled as he watched her go, giving himself a little longer out in the sun, before heading inside to join them.

A/N:

That was fun! I like writing Tai. Dunno why.

I don't think I had anyone beta this. If I did, please let me know and I'll credit you properly!

Thank you all for reading!