"Taiyang Xiao Long, widowed father of two, finds himself in Atlas for a huntsman conference, where he stays at the Glass Unicorn. While there, he discovers Cinder, and finds out how badly she's being abused. He takes her away from Atlas and adopts her as his own."
Five Minutes to Midnight-Summary of Five Minutes to Midnight
is a RWBY For Want Of A Nail fanfic written by Kaylathebookworm.The story diverges from canon in that Taiyang encounters a young Cinder when he visits the Glass Unicorn and witnesses her abuse. He steps in and saves her from her abusers and brings her home to raise her as his own, changing her fate forever.
Five Minutes to Midnight provides examples of:
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Emerald already had it rough in canon due to growing up on the streets, but here, she becomes the Madame's second child slave.
- Adaptational Backstory Change: Neo and Roman's backstories are different from canon, though this is justified due to them having been written and introduced in the story before RWBY: Roman Holiday gave their official backstories.
- Big Sister Instinct: Upon seeing Emerald for the first time and hearing about her circumstances as the Madame's second slave child, Cinder immediately develops this for her, wanting to do everything to keep the younger girl safe.
- Curb Stomp Cushion: In a sparring match with Tai, Cinder is completely out of her league due to her fighting an experienced Huntsman, but she still manages to score a few decent hits, with Tai even being impressed with her prowess.
- Gilligan Cut: Qrow's thoughts on the situation with Cinder at the end of Chapter 3 contrast with how Cinder views her current arrangement at the start of Chapter 4."They trudged back to the house and Qrow put her back to bed before finally falling into bed himself. Things were going to be okay."
"As far as Cinder was concerned, things were less than okay." - Happily Adopted: Cinder grows to accept the Rose/Xiao Longs as her new family as well as love them, which is returned in full. Same goes for Emerald as well after Qrow rescues her from the Madame.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: Tai saves Cinder from her abusive adoptive family, but because he basically assaulted them in public, he's deemed a criminal by Atlesian laws and can't return to Atlas without getting arrested.
- It Only Works Once: Tai is able to rescue Cinder and escape the police by calling on Raven to teleport him back to his house. It's made clear that this was a one time thing and that if he's ever in this situation again, it's tough shit for him.
- Karma Houdini: The Madame becomes this. If Tai and Qrow are to be believed, she faked her death and disappeared, leaving everything to her two daughters and still coming off as a benevolent businesswoman. Qrow and Tai are downright pissed about it. There are, however, hints that the Sunrise Society killed her because she had become a liability.
- Never Learned to Read: Cinder never gained any literacy skills growing up thanks to being a slave her entire life who was never taught. Both Ruby and Yang, who are younger then her, have better reading comprehension skills than she does.
- Papa Wolf: Tai's protectiveness roars to life when he sees the conditions Cinder is stuck in and it drives him to break the law to get her to safety.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Tai is well aware that taking Cinder from her adoptive mother is basically considered kidnapping in the eyes of Atlas laws, but if it means saving an innocent girl from being horrifically abused and enslaved by her mother, then he couldn't give less of a rat's ass about what the law says if he tried.
- Trauma Button: Upon seeing Ruby and Yang, Cinder freezes in fear because she was also heavily abused by the daughters of the Madame and was afraid the Rose/Xiao Long sisters would be no different.
- Villain with Good Publicity: The Madame is a horrid child abuser who has a near ironclad reputation as a well regarded business owner. Even after she's supposedly killed, she dies with her reputation in tact, much to Tai and Qrow's anger.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Done from both sides of the equation. Ironwood calls out Tai for doing what is tantamount to kidnapping and a severe violation of the law, while Tai calls him out on how corrupt and broken the laws at Atlas are if they allow for what is essentially child slavery.
- Worth It: Tai admits that never being allowed back into Atlas without getting arrested is completely worth it for getting Cinder away from her abusive mother.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The Madame is implied to have met this fate due to becoming a liability to the Sunrise Society.
