Rewind
Raven met Cinder while she was wandering the park, a habit she’d gotten after coming home. 13-year-old Cinder had looked so small on that playground, smaller than a 13-year-old should be. The small dark-haired girl sat at the bottom of the curved slide. Raven watched her from a distance, unsure if what she was seeing was real or one of her mind tricks. “Hello?” She tentatively called. The sobbing stopped, real then.
“I’m not gonna hurt you. I just wanna make sure you’re okay.” Raven lowers herself to the grass, several yards away from the small girl. “I’m Raven, what’s your name?”
The girl hiccups, “I’m Cinder. Are you an angel? I heard someone say once that when you die, you see angels.”
Raven’s brows furrow, Why would… she thinks she’s dead. “No, sweetie. I’m just a person, why would you think I’m an angel?”
“I ran away, my uncle hurt me, and I ran. Bad things happen to little girls who run away.” Cinder stands, shakily walking to stand closer to Raven. Raven has to stifle a gasp, Cinder is only wearing a large t-shirt swallowing her frame, and blood is running down the girl’s exposed leg.
“I’m sorry about that. I may not be an angel, but I can help. Will you let me help?” Cinder hesitates, still unsure if Raven is real. “I’m gonna call my brother, he can take us to the hospital and they’ll get you fixed up.”
Cinder stares for a moment, slowly blinking, “Will you stay with me?” Raven smiles, her heart said this girl was hers and that’s all she needed to know. Especially after the events of the last two years.
“You’ll never have to be alone again, pinky promise.” That pinky promise set in motion the events that led to the rest of Cinder's life. When Raven got kicked out of the exam room, she called Summer and Tai. Lightly bouncing on her feet as she waits for one of them to answer.
“If Qrow comes to watch the girls, will you come to the hospital?” She rushes out, having already sent Qrow to their house to watch the 8 and 9-year-olds.
“Uh, are you okay?” Tai is confused when he answers the phone. Summer never knew where her phone was so Tai had been the one to get the phone call.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just have something I want to show you.”
“At the hospital?” Summer chimes in. With the three of them the phone was almost always on speaker so they all knew what was going on.
“Yeah, I think you’ll love her.”
“Her? Okay, Raven Branwen, you have too much confidence. I just saw Qrow park.” Raven lets out a laugh at Tai’s accusation.
“I love you, hug the girls and get here already.” Raven hangs up before beginning to pace. She almost laughs remembering when she was pregnant with Yang. Almost 10 years ago, she had been terrified of being a mother; hell, she still is some days when the darkness looms in the corners of their house. From what little Cinder had told Raven and Qrow in the car, her childhood had been similar to theirs. Drunk parents, in and out of jail, and less than love for the young girl who depended on them.
Raven wanders to the end of the hall and back, trying to stay close enough that if Cinder calls out, she can get to her but far enough that the girl has privacy. Cinder is almost an exact copy of the way Raven was at 13. A parentified oldest daughter trying to protect her little brother from the evils of the world. The evils known as their parents. Qrow had started getting in trouble by that point, and Raven did everything in her power to make sure no one ever connected him to the crimes.
That is until they were 15, and their father swung at Raven for the last time. Raven had taken the gun from their mother’s bedside one night when she was drunk, and Qrow had found it looking for some spare change. Qrow pulled the trigger, and the rest, well, that was history. The case had been sealed when they hit 18, but the teens had been put through therapy after the shooting. Their mother never questioned where the teens went until Qrow got in trouble the last time. He’d been caught smashing mailboxes with Tyrion Fall and Hazel Rainhart.
Law enforcement had cornered him at the school, and where halfway ready to send him to juvenile detention when Sgt. Glynda Goodwitch stepped in. Sgt. Goodwitch was a recruiter and came up with a deal for the younger Branwen. “Let him enlist, it’ll do him worlds better than being stuck behind bars will.” The blonde bargained with the cops. Somehow they agreed.
Qrow and Raven sat side by side, filling out the paperwork that would sign their lives away. Qrow kept trying to reason with Raven, saying there was no need for them both to be punished for his mess. Raven simply shot back that she wasn’t gonna let her brother have all the fun, not after everything they'd been through.
“So, where is she?” Raven’s head snaps up, eyes focusing in on Summer and Tai.
“Uh, she’s in there with the doctor. They kicked me out a little bit ago.” Raven motions to the room where Cinder is.
Tai moves out of the middle of the hallway, leading Raven towards the wall. “What’s her story?” They both know her well enough to know that there’s something more to this, especially when she's 3 months post getting rescued after being assumed KIA for two years.
Raven hesitates before telling them, “Her name is Cinder and she is, essentially.. well, me.” Her wife and husband share a look before nodding.
“So she’s ours?” Tai questions, sneaking a peek through the door as a nurse left Cinder’s room. Amber eyes met his, and he melted. There was never going to be any question about her being theirs. It just took her a while to find them.
Raven, suddenly feeling all the bravado she usually carried, left her body, “I think so.”
Summer smiles, beginning to take her phone out,“I’ll call the lawyer, see what we need to do.”
Raven puts her hand on Summer’s arm, suddenly full of fear. “What, no. I’m not mentally stable, we need to think this through.”
“If you say she’s ours, she will be. No matter what.” Summer says, smiling, continuing to dial her phone. Tai wraps his arms around the shorter of his wives, nuzzling into her hair, breathing in deeply. Raven relaxes, not realizing how tense she had become.
“Pinky promise,” Tai whispers into her hair. Raven lifts her hand, pinky extended, locking with Tai’s, and Summer wraps hers around them both.
Hours later, and into the next day, they are given temporary custody of Cinder. Summer and Raven had gone home to find Cinder some proper clothes and to warn their small family of their new addition. “They said I get to go home with you. Is it true?” The small 13-year-old questions in a mix of fear of an excitement.
“Hopefully, you’ll get to stay with us forever.” Suddenly Tai gets serious, “You’ll never be alone again, pinky promise.” He extends his pinky to the girl, who takes it, and with that, five became six.