The Other Daughter

Chapter 16 | Part One

The day has finally come! At last, after all of the plot twists and turns (and all of the waiting on your part, readers), we reach the final hill on the storytelling trek that is The Other Daughter.

Last chapter left us with the bitter final words, "Why have you been lying to me?" The cat is out of the bag and Yang's silver-eyed sister is very unhappy! Today, Ruby Rose's question, and many others, will be answered. Everything comes to a head as Yang faces the most tense situation of her life.

Part 2 of this two-part finale will be posted later today, along with a special announcement and comments from me.

I hope you enjoy reading the first half! Let me know what you think, good or bad.

The call line went as dead as one of the abandoned settlements that were all too common in Anima. Ruby's stare fixated on the two pale-faced men. She awaited an answer with chilling patience.

"Wha-" Yang sputtered, turning toward her younger sister, "Ruby! Why did you-"

Ruby met Yang's gaze, stone-faced. "I want to know why the two most important people in my life lied about something like this." She looked back at the screen. "Dad, Uncle Qrow, I know everything. I know Yang is my sister, and that she's the daughter of Qrow's sister Raven. What I don't know is why you couldn't talk to me about something like this." Her stoic facade crumbled as her eyes pooled with tears, and she choked on a sob.

"Hang on a minute, Ruby!" Qrow started raspily, but was immediately cut off.

"Don't you trust me?" She continued to weep, her tears splashing against the backlit screen.

"It's not that, Ruby," Taiyang urged. "There's more to this than you realize."

"That's probably true," Ruby said, sniffling and doing her best to stem the flow of tears. "But what I do realize is that my sister, who until now was basically a stranger, had to come all the way from Anima to let me know something the two people I love most never could."

Taiyang and Qrow stared back, speechless, their faces somber.

"Ruby-" Yang tried and failed to get a word in.

"Yang's known this for less than a week, but she still tried to come and speak to us." Ruby smiled wistfully at Yang, her cheeks still wet. "The truth was put out in the open for her by Professor Ozpin, but at least she tried to tell me herself on our first day here! You two knew this my entire life, and you let me think I was an only child." Ruby hung her head, letting one last bitter sob out before wiping her eyes. "Why?"

Not knowing what else to do, Yang reached out and pulled Ruby close to her, giving her what she hoped was a warm and comforting hug. Ruby's body shivered against hers, and it was as if Yang was experiencing all of the raw emotion right along with her. Yang knew that pain. It was the same pain she felt from the moment Raven bequeathed her a rusty locket and shared truths that shook her entire world. Now her poor, lovely, innocent younger sister was going through it, too. While this did hurt, at least from here on out they wouldn't need to keep any secrets from each other.

The faint sound of voices in the distance stole Yang's focus away from the heartfelt moment. Cradling Ruby with one arm and stroking her red-streaked hair with the other, she turned around and was surprised to see they weren't alone. Several students were peeking out of their dorms at the two of them, probably wondering what all of the noise was about. Blake and Weiss stood at the forefront, looking on with concern. Yang had been much too absorbed in the moment to realize how far Ruby's voice carried.

"Ruby," Yang whispered, releasing her grip and tapping Ruby's shoulder to alert her. Ruby raised her head, wiping her tears, and saw Blake and Weiss staring back at her.