RWBY Through Worlds

99: Moment of Truth, Moment to Lie

Oscar had planned to spend this day of resting more quietly, but Ozpin seemed restless, and he wondered why.

"All this has made me think," Ozpin said, "that I really should talk to Qrow... Finding out about Summer could not have been easy."

"He seems okay," Oscar mused.

"Looks can be deceiving," Ozpin said. "I have put this off long enough...though he does not seem to wish to speak to me, but prolonging it is...folly."

"I'm not going to argue that," Oscar said. "I'll find him."

Qrow, surprisingly, after such news, had not gone on a drinking bender. He was actually taking it better than Tai, or Ruby or Yang, had expected...

Far better than Yang or Ruby were, in fact. They were still upset. Tai didn't know what to tell them.

Even Zwei couldn't cheer them up, and Little offered Ruby cheese, to no avail.

But Qrow was calm enough. Though not happy with Hazel, who wisely avoided him.

Oscar half wondered if this conversation would trigger an Alicia flashback--then he realized that Ozpin probably had no memory of actually confronting someone after being outed as a liar, so that probably wouldn't happen.

"I heard that," Ozpin grumbled. "This is so undignified."

Oscar tapped on the wall of the room Qrow was in.

Qrow glanced up. "What is it, kid?"

"I...well, not I, but Oz, wants to talk," Oscar said slowly. "If that's okay?"

Qrow frowned at him. Then he sighed. "Go ahead."

Oscar relinquished control to Ozpin--this was starting to feel weirder and weirder to him lately, instead of easier.

"Hello...Qrow," Ozpin said slowly.

It wasn't like this was the first time they'd ever been in the same room since the falling out, but Ozpin had never directly spoken to Qrow, or vice versa, that Oscar could recall.

"This about Summer?" Qrow knew Ozpin wouldn't have just broken his silence for no reason.

"It's...not exactly." Ozpin picked up his cane, slowly. "Though that was...a shock. To myself as much as the rest of you. Even if I suspected it had to do with Salem, I never dreamt Theo and Henry were involved."

Qrow sighed.

"But I also feel I have...shirked something," Ozpin said. "I owe you an apology for everything that has happened. I have let Oscar do most of the work lately, and that is partially to help him stay himself, but if I was honest, it was partially because I didn't know what to say. I still do not know exactly what to say, but walking through my memories made me realize how I've become a very different man over the many centuries than I started off as, and I had not even noticed it. I was warned, once, that my course would not bring peace...twice, even. But, I did not listen--or I could not listen. That has brought pain on all the world, but especially on your family, even if it was not planned that way. I am sorry for that."

He looked regretful.

Qrow sighed again and leaned on one hand.

"You know, if you said that weeks ago, I probably would have punched you," he said. "I was furious...but, in hindsight, it's not like we didn't choose it. All of us blew Raven off when she told us you were a liar. In a way, we chose not to see it. Blame it on luck or fate, or our blind faith, but we could have known, and we didn't. Doesn't make you right, but it's not just you either. The question is, what now?"