The Burning Rose

Chapter 5: Repercussions

"There we go. I'm all done." Summer sat in Yang's bedroom as she cut her burned hair. Yang hadn't said a word since she had come back in. She just stared at her fist that still clutching the hair that Cinder had burned off.

Summer understood her sadness and frustration. This was the first time when someone had so easily overpowered her and taken something dear to her. The first time losing had really stung her, along with her now damaged hair.

"Don't worry dear." Summer said, gently stroking her daughter's head. "It'll grow back. And when it does, it'll be even more beautiful." Yang still said nothing. Summer grow more concerned. She had never seen Yang distraught like this.

A knock on the door drew Summer's attention away from her daughter to see Tai waving to her. As much as she would have liked to stay with Yang, Summer needed to know if Ruby was okay.

She pulled Yang into another hug and kissed the top of her head. "Mommy's got to go check on your sister. I'll be right back, if you need anything at all, just call me, okay?" Yang didn't respond at first, but after a few seconds, she gave a weak nod.

Summer kissed her again before gathering the burned hair and leaving the room. Once the door closed, Summer heard restrained sobbing from inside. She had half a mind to open the door, but remember that when Raven was sad, she'd always go somewhere to be alone. Some people just didn't want others around when upset, and she just had to accept that.

Turning to Tai, Summer fought back a yelp as she saw a bloody cloth in his hands.

"Don't worry." He said immediately. "Ruby's fine. She just insisted on giving Cinder her blades back before putting a bandage on. The cut wasn't bad, so I didn't see much harm in allowing it."

Summer let out a sigh of relief. Ruby was okay. And that's what mattered.

"So, how's our sunny dragon doing?" Tai asked. Summer could only shake her head sadly. "Physically, she's fine. Only has a few scrapes and bruises, but that's nothing new." Summer paused a second before continuing. "Mentally thought? She very upset about her hair. She's so upset she's not even mad anymore, which I've never seen before." Summer let out a sigh as she leads Tai down stairs.

"It's normally never this bad. She fought people who've hurt Ruby before and lost, but she never had her hair cut like that until now. I'm not sure how long she'll be unresponsive with others. Especially after being attacked with the kind of ferocity Cinder is capable of." Summer throws the burned strands in the trash before turning back to the stairs.

"Actually." Tai said stopping Summer. "I'm not sure if that's what happened."

Summer turned and stared at Tai. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I'm sorry, what?" She asked in complete disbelief. "You can't be serious right now, can you? Cinder's blades were right next to her and you saw her burning Yang's hair. How much more-!"

"Summer listen." Tai cut in. "You're the one who's always saying, give people the benefit of the doubt. Back when we found out why Raven and Qrow entered Beacon, I was ready to go straight to Ozpin, but you stopped me then and said to give them a chance." Summer opened her mouth to retort, but closed it when she couldn't come up with a logical argument.

"For the past month Cinder's been living with us, you've always vouched for her, now you've convinced me not to jump to conclusions and I'm asking you to do the same." Summer frowned, then took a deep breath and waited for Tai to continue.

"I believed the same as you, that Cinder was provoked into attacking Yang, then Ruby got in the way and got hurt in the crossfire." Summer nodded. Not quite the way she thought things had happened, but close enough.