「The Crow and the Wolf」

「Chapter Nine - A Death」

"And then what happened?" Nora asked, as they finished looking through the pictures.

"It had begun after Aunt Thyra came back from a mission, and Qrow had failed his own mission, and it lead to the death of some people he had worked with," Yang muttered, staring at the last picture that was in the middle of the book, proving the album was incomplete. "Aunt Thyra had come back closed off, and she wasn't the same. It's like she wasn't there, and she tried her best to help Qrow, but then she'd get distracted, and just trail off, and she wasn't able to. While Qrow was hostile right off the bat, her own hostility developed over time. The lack of support between them caused a lot of arguments and eventually they fell apart. Their first real argument still haunts me to this day."

"Thyra, do you know how hard it is? And you still expect so much from me! I can't make it home every night, and I'm sorry I don't take the missions that you do so that you can see everyone so often," the male exclaimed, jabbing at his fiancée with his finger. "Why can't you understand?"

"I do understand! I do know how hard it is!" The woman tried to keep her voice level, not wanting to raise her voice. "Qrow, they died! You're not the only one who's suffering."

"Yeah, I know that! But I can't handle you always complaining about me being unable to return so that we can fall asleep with each other," the male replied, unable to control his tone like Thyra. "Sometimes I need space, you know? It's so annoying always having you on my case!"

"I'm sorry, Qrow. I just miss you." The Huntress backed off, wrapping her arms around herself, biting at her lip. "I can't really sleep alone right now. I'm so sorry I'm so clingy."

"Oh, don't guilt-trip me, Thyra. Don't make me seem like the one at fault!" Qrow shook his head, as he turned away from the woman.

"I'm not trying to! I know you're hurting, Qrow. I've got selfish needs, and I'm sorry if it feels like I'm imposing them on you!" Thyra, held a fist over her mouth, trying to hold back her tears. "If you want I can leave the house for a bit? I can stay with Taiyang, and Summer if it feels like I'm suffocating you. I need to drop Ruby and Yang back off anyways."

"I said don't guilt-trip me, Thyra!" Qrow growled over his shoulder, refusing to turn around so that he wouldn't be swayed by the look in his fiancée's eyes. "It's not that I want you to leave, I just want you to back off."

"But I don't know how. I can't, after I saw everyone, I just- I don't know what to do." Thyra managed to get it through her lips, as she struggled to hold back her cries. "It's so bad. It was so bad. I can't sleep alone. I can't. What if- what if-"

"'What if' what, Thyra?" He exclaimed, whipping around to look at his fiancée, eyes widening at the tears streaming down her face. When she saw him looking her way, she turned her head away so he couldn't see her. "Thyra-"

"I just- never mind, Qrow. You're right, it's not important what I'm talking about. I'm bothering you when you need space. I just need to back off. Don't worry about it, Qrow." The Huntress struggled to smile, as she wiped at the tears falling down her cheek with the sleeve of one of Qrow's shirts.

"How am I supposed to act like nothing's wrong when you're crying?" The male's voice had quieted down, and he embraced his fiancée, feeling her tears seeping into his shirt, as her body racked with sobs. She clutched at the back of his clothes, her knuckles white.

"Just pretend you never saw me cry, okay? That way we can pretend that this argument never happened, and that's everything's okay, alright?" Thyra pulled away, the exhaustion obvious in her voice. Her cheeks were damp with tears, and eyes rimmed with red. She gave him a shaky smile, trying to ignore the stinging in her nose that urged her to cry. "I'll go tuck the girls back in, who should be sleeping. She turned around, and watched their two nieces come out from the hallway.

She crouched down, smiling as the two girls hopped into her arms. She stood back up, rocking the two in her arms, her tired, teary smile causing Qrow's heart to clench. He simply stood dumbfounded, as she walked away to their nieces' room.

And then he heard the words their nieces, and his fiancée shared, and it broke his heart.

"Why won't you tell Uncle Qrow that you're having nightmares, and that you sometimes cry yourself to sleep, or have Ruby and I sleep with you because he's not here?"

"Because he's got his own problems that are more important than mine. He needs to take care of himself before me. Your Aunt needs to take care of her own problems like a big girl."

"But big girls need help to sometimes, right?"

Qrow then felt the need to punch himself in the face, when Thyra looked over her shoulder at him with such saddened eyes. Her blue hues used to be so lively, and bright, and they had dimmed slightly, concerning him. When she made eye contact with him, she turned back around, looking at the two girls in her arms.
away

"Not this time, Yang. Not this time."

"Their arguments got worse and worse, and then sometimes there would be no making up, especially on Aunt Thyra's part. She was being worn down by their fighting, and her own job as a Huntress. She had almost died on several occasions, and I didn't want to believe the idea when our parents had discussed the possibility of her being suicidal. That she was taking dangerous solo missions- when she could barely focus on washing her hands- because she was trying to die." Ruby began to rock back and forth, while Yang wrapped her arms around her. "She stopped giving Uncle Qrow hugs when he tried to apologize. Stopped apologizing herself. I have vivid memories of her eyes always being so full of life, but when I look at them, they look so dull. If you compared her eyes back then, and now, you'd think she died. And sometimes I believe a piece of her did at some point, and now she's just withering away, while giving what's left of her to protect others."

"How did your Uncle react to her departure, if you don't mind me asking?" Pyrrha inquired, tilting her head.

"I don't know. He came home while we were eating breakfast, and he was confused when he saw Aunt Thyra's boots missing. He went straight to their room, and for a few minutes there was nothing but silence," Yang mumbled, eyes glazing over, feeling as if she was living the memory again. "Then he'd walked out of the guest room, velvet box in one hand, a crumpled letter in the other. He didn't say one word. His eyebrows were furrowed as he walked through the front door, slamming it behind him. Sometimes I think that when he felt we were out of hearing distance he screamed, because the blackbirds began to cry out, and it was almost like a lament for what was lost."

Maybe if the topic wasn't so heavy, someone would have made a joke about Yang's sudden poetic nature. Then maybe someone would laugh, but there was nothing but silence.

At this point, I think she wants to die.

When was the last time she smiled?

He's been so aggressive lately, and she's been following suit.

She doesn't hug back anymore, just stands there. She's like a zombie.

They're like a bomb, but we won't know when they explode until it's too late.

I love him, but it doesn't feel like he loves me anymore.

I keep making the same mistake over and over, but she's still here and I don't know why. Why does she stay?

Sometimes I think he won't come back because what's he got to come back to? Nothing but an abusive woman. I hurt him just as much as he hurts me.

I'm trying to prepare for when she leaves, because it won't hurt as bad when it happens. She's a smart girl, and one day she'll realize she doesn't need me. Then she'll realize she can get so much better than whatever I am.

It's like they died.