A/N: I feel it needs to be stated that Sten is not Jacques. Jacques is pretty one-dimensional, and Sten is, well, you'll see. I repeat, TORSTEN GREGOR SCHNEE IS NOT JACQUES SCHNEE. I wrote the majority of this story and definitely the outline way, way before Volume 4 came out, so it's definitely an AU, and there are some differences in the Schnee family to the show. Sten is from the Schnee lineage, while Jacques is not. Whitley doesn't exist. Rosa Quartz-Schnee is a hilarious drunk middle-aged woman, Willow is… well, I don't know what she is because she was never actually in the show. Klein doesn't exist.

Chapter 8: The Cold Castle on the Mountain

Yang was stepping into the van to be transported back to jail, when a legal aid flagged them down and told them that court was re-adjourning in five minutes. Cold rushed through her veins, she was done for, she just knew. The jury had only retired a few hours ago, was it normal to make a decision that quickly? Yang was seated in the docks, they did not bother to remove her chains. Sweat dripped down her back and she worked herself up into an internal frenzy, convinced the only reason they could have finished so quickly, is that they simply decided to lock her up for the rest of her life.

"All rise."

"Has the jury come to a decision?"

"We have, Your Honour."

"You expect me to believe that you have debated this very serious matter with appropriate consideration in the short time that the court was in recess?"

"Yes, Your Honour. We, the jury, have, in fact, reached a unanimous decision." said the foreman.

"What is your verdict? Guilty, or not guilty?"

"We, the people of the jury, agree on the verdict 'not guilty', Your Honour."

"I formally note the jury's decision. However, the final call belongs to me. Miss Xiao Long, you were publicly witnessed to have violent tendencies, and even now, you are brought before me facing charges of aggressive assault possibly causing the loss of a life. Despite that, the fact that you were intoxicated and molested prior to the incident in question, a complete lack of premeditation, and your occupation as a Huntress, compels me not to label you as a danger to the public. The deceased knew of your temperament and provoked you regardless.

"I have carefully evaluated all the evidence to hand, and sentence you to a conditional discharge from custody without parole. Taking away your freedom would do more harm than good, and having taken into account the positive character references given to me, I feel this punishment is fair and appropriate. Provided that no further charges are brought against you in the next seven years, you are hereby acquitted of all crimes."

"Let the record show that His Honour, Judge Stark, has reached a verdict in the trial of the People of Vale versus Yang Xiao Long. Of the crimes of assault, assault and battery, assault with the intention of grievous bodily harm, the court finds the defendant acquitted as not proven. In regards to the crime of murder in the third degree, the court finds the defendant not guilty and is to be released from custody."

Yang's new attorney smiled for the first time since she had met him. His office waded through a sea of paperwork, police reports and interviews, medical files and notes. They ordered new tests to be done by better, more expensive experts. Forensic teams and doctors reviewed everything in excruciating detail and swore under oath that it was definitely the gunshots that were the mortal wounds. They picked apart the prosecutor's attack on Yang, based on newly uncovered proof that the police were tampering with the evidence in the case. Obviously, it was much easier to convince a new judge of their line of thinking, as they had deposed the first judge who presided over Yang's hearing, something about a scandal involving an escort who looked eerily like Yang.

All the witnesses, including Weiss, seemed to be on her side this time, and all gave favourable testimony on the stand. However, Weiss refused to connect with her at all, even through eye contact and the cross-examiner did not fail to pick up on this fact. Yang's lawyer was quick to dismiss this as irrelevant. They pointed the finger at Ash, called him to the stand, and brought up his past and present criminal behaviour.

Her attorney grilled her for details that they used to pin it all on him. He stared at her with his beady eyes as he accused the lawyers of falsely offering him a plea deal so that he would testify, and they replied that there was no such plea deal. His testifying counted as material evidence in his own trial which was set for a later date. He had given away that he had spoken to the guy before shooting him, which happened to corroborate Yang's story and also implicate himself at the same time, but she had no sympathy for him after all. She even looked scared of him, which was something that the lawyers went over with her multiple times before the trial. The minute details of how she had to act during questioning and cross-examination were drummed into her head with rude efficiency, as though her life depended on it.

She trusted them and their bespoke designer suits, they were so focused on winning her case, it was like they didn't even care that she was pretty much guilty. The truth of the events that night didn't matter, all they cared about was whether, at the end of it all, the judge gave the verdict that they wanted.

It was all over. Yang almost couldn't believe it. She had forgotten how good it felt to smile, it had become so foreign to her. The judge signed and dated her release waiver, she would be free to go Monday morning, after the weekend when the prison admin office was closed. Her personal guard escort unlocked the handcuffs, and Yang rubbed her wrists where they had been touching her, because she saw people do that in movies. She rode in the front of the van with the driver and the correctional officer. Her cell felt so much more spacious when she walked back inside. It was like there was an exit to use, even though they locked her in for the night at 10 along with all the other inmates.

Preparations began for Yang to leave that night. She was brought to the medical unit, and they took her inside a padded room. Her stomach churned, this seemed a lot like another prison, but smaller and intended for psychos. The stains on the walls were suspiciously shaped like blood splatters, even though they were so old that they were black. Two huge COs were locked in the room with her, and she panicked when they told her to undress. They rolled their eyes, and threatened her with a sedative, so she disrobed with apprehension. Yang desperately tried to figure out what this room was for, it wasn't like any room in the prison she had seen before, and the tough, armoured suits that the COs were putting on kept her nerves buzzing. They came at her like two large juggernauts, walking fortresses, behind ten inches of steel, rubber, and super-hard plastic. One held her down and the other pinned her with an oversized syringe, or more specifically her arm.

Yang cowered, they were protected from head-to-foot while she was in her underwear. Next thing she knew, her arm had been punctured, a huge needle delivering the local anaesthetic. She whimpered and moaned as it stung like hell. Within minutes, her arm was completely dead from the elbow down, her limb flopped uselessly about. A strange gun was pulled out of a toolkit, and Yang struggled momentarily before they stabbed her with that, right on the place she had been numbed. The prick left nothing but a touch, and a little pressure, but that was it. They activated the device, and a small amount of suction pulled through her vein. She tried not to look, but morbid fascination got the better of her. She lost at least half a cup of blood through the tube, but knew it was done when a nasty metal object, smaller than a ball bearing but covered in spikes like an underwater mine, splurged through the machine and pinged onto the electromagnet. She immediately felt sick.

Something hit her, similar to a wave crashing over her head, then another, and then another. But it lacked physicality. She closed her eyes to internalise the experience even more. She flew, guided by winds, over planets and stars, suns and moons. She was gliding in emptiness through clouds over mountains and through deep ocean trenches. Her lungs were full of water, but her body felt light as a feather. She whipped and whirled around in blank three dimensional space, searching for the source. Invisible puppet strings pulled her further along.

Aura. The essence of life.

Yang did not find it on her own. Through the clouds, trapped in the murkiness, she saw faces. She felt warm hands on her back, but no bodies that they were attached to. There were voices too, but she couldn't make out words. All those voices, so much pain, so much happiness. Singing rang through her ears, she could barely hear the words but she knew them off by heart. Warm breeze on summer mornings, sunbeams shining through gaps in the clouds. Yang's last thought was of her mother, as she surfaced from drowning. She called out to her, and reached for her. She was so close, but she felt nothing. Then everything. Pain stabbed her eyes as she opened them to the real world. An overwhelming bright, burning light originated from her. Aura - liquid gold - finally returned to her body, warming her up like hot cocoa and a cosy corner. The visible surges pulsed through her veins, glowing under her skin.

She was back, all her broken pieces were restored. Her fingers tingled as she assumed control of her power once again. There was only one thing for it; give it a test run. She looked at the COs wearing the body armour, and realised what a shitty job they had. Yang did what Yang did best, explode. Fire, ash, and brimstone scorched the armour and the walls. Yang's hair floated around her, the shining, golden, resplendent hair returned to its former glory. She smiled and then really turned up the heat, feeding on the ambrosia. Power bloomed outwards. The guards shielded their eyes. Yang found her legs and leapt. The floor cracked when she landed knuckles first, and the room shook threateningly. One swing was all it took to completely destroy the chest armour on one of the guards.

God, it felt good to be strong and beautiful again. Then she doubled over and puked her guts up. All that food went to waste.

"Are you done? Just know that using your aura at any time on the prison grounds is a felony and be assured that we will have the evidence to convict you. A judge can rule that you'll have to live with an implant permanently."

"Good to know. I'll behave."

Yang had a few affairs to wrap up before she left. She went to say goodbye to Ash, but he ignored her presence, despite her sincere wishes that they could still be friends. Now that she had her aura back, she had no need for the steroids he gave her for free, so she tried to give the rest of them back. He let the baggy drop to the floor, so she kept hold of them. She shrugged and moved on. If he did not care about her anymore, she would not care harder. She slept fine that night, but she saw him at breakfast looking thinner with a face like a ghost.

Yang had been moved back to the main prison, and not said a word to Cinder. Nothing, not even so much as a nod or a glance as Yang put all her stuff in a clear plastic bag and had a guard escort her out. It was a terrible idea, and consequences would be dire if she were to be caught, but Yang snuck into C Wing to explain to Cinder how she felt about her. She knew the route from Cinder's cell to the cafeteria and used the back entrance into the kitchen to join the crowds as they left. Tracking Cinder was easy, she still sauntered around like she owned the place, and everyone gave her a wide berth. Yang stepped into the empty space behind her, and tapped Cinder on the shoulder.

Cinder dodged out of the way and brandished a toothbrush handle, sharpened into a point. She was probably used to being threatened or attacked. Better to be safe than sorry. "What are you doing here?"

Yang fought a grin, and held up her empty hands. "Came to say goodbye."

"What a wasted sentiment, and a waste of my time."

Yang gestured sarcastically to the grey walls. "There's plenty of time on your hands, Cinder, I'm sure you could spare a minute of it for little old me." Cinder's expression soured. "I'll be quick. I'm leaving, I got out. But I wanted to tell you that I don't hold it against you."

"What?"

"Having me attacked."

Cinder held the bridge of her nose, but her snort still came out and turned into a cruel laugh. Cinder was very practised at that laugh, and Yang was not immune to the belittling sound of it. "I did no such thing."

Yang punched the wall behind Cinder, turning it to dust. Her eyes grew blood red, making Cinder jump. Yang's arm cast a dark shadow over Cinder's twitching eyes. It was better this way, so that Yang could say everything she had to say and not have to stop because Cinder was too terrified of her.

"Don't lie to me, I know you did. All because you wanted your private room back, to teach me some kind of lesson. It wasn't even my fault I was there."

"You'll never prove it."

"I just told you that I don't care, I'm getting out of here. I hate your friend Mercury though, he fucked up my life. Figures he's already dead. First thing I would've done after getting out of here, would be find him and pay him a visit." Yang leaned in way too close, she could see Cinder reeling as her face came nearer. "I want you to know, that I did try to kill him," she whispered, "I enjoyed it. I'd do it again. He hurt someone I love. And I won't hesitate to exact the same vengeance on anyone who tries to hurt me through someone close to me. Do you understand me, Cinder? This is a threat. Maybe I'm not one of the good guys. The world's not so black and white anymore. You're lucky, in a way, that no one loves you, must make it easy to forget about the people in your life."

"You can't understand me, don't even try."

Yang made a noise of disgust. "I don't want to. You frighten me, not because you're dangerous, but because you're dead on the inside."

Cinder stared blankly, but her voice was unstable. "I hate you."

Yang leaned back from Cinder, not wanting to share space with her, or be infected by her malice. "Maybe there is something human still inside you somewhere. But you deserve whatever punishment life has in store for you. I'll leave destiny to deal with you. You'll die a dusty, dried up, old woman behind bars, and that's if someone else doesn't get to you first."

"Get out of my face. Before I call the guards."

Yang skedaddled, innately sensing that her stealth skills were only so good, and C Wing was not a place she wanted to be caught.

Nothing stayed secret for very long in jail, so soon people were asking Yang when she was leaving and when her party was. Yang was confused, there was no party she had planned, but knew her friends in the kitchen would use any excuse to drink hooch. Her favourite chef brought out a lumpy, asymmetrical cake from behind his back when she came to make her last delivery.

"What's this?"

"For you. Well, I mean nobody's having buttered toast for like two weeks now, but you got a cake, so…"

"Aw, seriously you guys shouldn't have. Smells great."

The sweet taste of vanilla sponge induced pure euphoria. Yang ate every crumb. She made sure that there were two extra large slices of cake and she delivered them personally to Olivia and Uzo. She bribed them to come to her party with the promise of more sugar. They totally fell for it and were instantly sucked into the party vibe when they got to the mess hall. Yang dragged Uzo aside to have a private word.

"You know, things are different on the outside to when you were free. Granted, it's still there, but racism is hardly a big issue anymore. Faunus walk around freely in the streets, they don't have to have guardians, or wear tags anymore. The government overturned the law that would catalogue and track every Faunus citizen. You did it, mission accomplished."

"Still, there's plenty more work to do."

"Yeah, but at least you can smile about the changes already made because of people like you."

"Well," Uzo cleared her throat. "And people like you."

Tears glittered in Yang's eyes and a smile split her face. "I'm gonna miss you."

"I'll miss you too." Without being forced, Uzo stepped into Yang's personal space and put an arm around her. Yang was so shocked, she didn't get a chance to hug back before Uzo let go. Olivia saw the look on Yang's face and smiled.

"Now, don't go getting yourself into trouble again, you hear?"

"Yes, mom." Yang sung at her in a childlike voice. They were so happy for her that she was leaving, they gave their friendship as an apology for treating her like scum, and she promised to never forget them. Yang used the last of her commissary fund to buy Olivia a new deck of cards, with all 52 cards present and accounted for.

Yang had to be up and ready at 4:30am for her release at six. She barely slept, her nerves gave her nausea, she may as well have slept on a bed of nails. Her lawyers were required for filling in paperwork, they were punctual and informative on the short process. Prison staff returned her stuff in a cardboard box, and gave her some non-descript civvie clothes. She dropped everything and clawed through the box, taking out her orange scarf. She pressed it to her face, inhaling deeply the stale scent of home.

After she changed, an armed escort made sure she got to the gates, then they kicked her out onto the street. Prison was supposed to prepare her to fend for herself in the outside world, but they did nothing of the sort. She didn't have any money or any way of travelling home, and she was not going to get back the way she returned to Beacon from the police station - giving a cabbie a ride for a ride. Just as she had given up hope of leaving with some dignity, an unbelievably clean and waxed white car pulled up in front of her.

First thing she saw when someone got out of the car was a flash of white, and Yang's heart did a somersault. A man stepped out of the vehicle, and it pulled away from the no parking red zone.

"Hello," Yang cleared her throat nervously, "sir."

"Hello," he said and beamed her one of his most welcoming smiles. "You know who I am?"

It was obvious. The perfectly coiffed snow-white hair and neatly trimmed beard, the stone grey suit with a price tag that would boggle Yang's mind, shoes to match, Schnee crests on all the accents and details. He seemed so clean and fresh that dirt and grime would never stick to his finery. Even his skin looked expensive, it was bronzed and tan, vibrant from all the vacations he could clearly afford. From a fair distance, she caught a whiff of his aftershave, which immediately made her think of a yacht, sea breeze, suncream, ropes, and jet fuel.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr Schnee." She curtsied, and immediately regretted the decision. The corners of his eyes crinkled and his mouth twitched like he wanted to smile. He was laughing at her in his head and she knew it. Yang drew her shoulders back, sucked her tummy in, and lowered into a slight fighting stance, it helped her brain work more readily. She kept her hands lowered for the time being, but now she was ready for him.

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Xiao Long," he said, taking her hand and stooping low to kiss her knuckles. She blushed at the archaic greeting. "And please, all my friends call me Sten." He looked so deep into her eyes, she was staring at the reflection of her own face. She forced a smile to be polite, it still felt like she was bending her mouth unnaturally. He finally stood up, his face was friendlier than ever.

"That's definitely not the first thing I expected to hear when I came out of prison. And all my friends call me Yang." A little untrue, Weiss definitely called her vomit-inducing pet names from time to time, but for the majority, her friends did stick to Yang.

"I've heard a lot about you, Yang. I'm sorry Weiss couldn't be here."

"I thought she might've had something to do with you being here. Why are you here, and not her?"

He took a deep breath, and let it out in a frustrated sigh, bothered that he would have to talk shop so soon. "My presence was required to ensure the legal team performed to the best of their abilities."

"So this is all business."

"I had, shall we say, personal interest in you too. I've had to bribe a few police officers on my daughters' behalf before, but they've never asked me for bail money for someone else." Sten saw her eyes widen, he found their colour very beautiful. "You must be fairly important to Weiss."

"To be honest, sir, I don't know what she thinks of me at the moment."

"It's Sten," he half-smiled and she quickly apologised. "I know how she can be sometimes, Weiss is not good at expressing her feelings. But she's looking out for you, I promise you. Allow me to escort you back to your home, my car is waiting for us."

Yang stayed where she was, a stick in the mud. "When you say she's looking out for me, you mean like when she got you involved and convinced you to pay for fancy lawyers and take care of all the legal fees, show up here, wait around for the verdict, and drive me back to Beacon? What are you doing here, really?" Yang was smart enough to know that this man's time was expensive, he probably had the highest hourly rate in Remnant.

"Put simply. Weiss was adamant that I help. I believe she cares for you a great deal."

"Didn't seem that way the last time we talked," Yang said bitterly.

Irritatingly, he smiled. His eyes roved over her again, tracing her edges, memorising her silhouette. "You have a lot of feelings about her, don't you?"

"Are you testing me? If I answer wrong, do I get sent back to jail?"

"I can assure you, you're free to go. Forgive me for being a father interested in the romantic partner of his youngest, and most rebellious, daughter. I know she's assertive of her independence, but I still provide her with guidance where I can." He smiled when Yang raised her eyebrows. He was obviously keeping her on edge because he was not what she expected. He could not keep the smile off his face, and was unnervingly friendly. Where was the heartless head of a corporation that Weiss said she grew up with, with anger issues and a cruel streak in his heart?

Like practically everyone on Remnant, Yang had seen pictures of Mr Torsten Schnee but never before seen him in person. He did not belong, standing with her outside a prison, clearly the richest person to ever step foot on this sidewalk. Her lips shook under the pressure of coming up with something to say. He saw her troubles, and spoke up again, "Weiss must've been at the very end of her tether to call me directly for help. When I learned your name, I looked you up. You have quite the online presence, Yang. You're the very beautiful subject of the fastest growing website on Remnant. You're famous. It's quite obvious, though never outright stated, that you're in a relationship with my daughter. Naturally, you can imagine the intrigue I felt about meeting you."

"Oh." Yang imagined herself falling to the floor with embarrassment. She wavered unsteadily, knowing it was her turn to speak, but she was at a loss for words. She had to decide quickly whether she wanted to link her real and online selves, but Weiss was the one to make a lot of those decisions in the past. Yang's selfies had never been that popular before, not until Weiss got ahold of them and did her post-production magic. She tried her hardest to remember what exactly had been posted, but she only kept a mental record of her current records of likes.

"Yeah, that's me. Coming fresh out of prison, I probably didn't make the best first impression," she added as a caveat. Yang was apprehensive, she had expected Weiss to be present when she met the infamous Mr Schnee. She had no reference point for how to act in front of him.

"My expectations have been met and consequently exceeded. I think I like you, Miss Xiao Long." Suddenly, he had returned to formality to say the most informal statement.

"Why?"

"You're not afraid to banter with me."

"Sorry, sir, I didn't realise that was banter."

His laughter had her grinning easily. "I think I like you even more than I thought."

"Why's that?"

"You act true to yourself around me, which, in my world, is an exceptionally rare thing."

Yang had no response to that. She had only been with him for five minutes, but she had to re-think her entire opinion of him. The way Weiss had described him was vastly different to his charming and gentlemanly behaviour. She noticed that he was incredibly polite, he walked on the roadside of the sidewalk, a leftover piece of chivalry code unnecessary in modern times. He refused to let her carry anything, not that she had very much, and gave her his jacket to protect her hair when it started to rain as they were walking to the car.

He walked tall, he was much taller than Yang had expected. Nothing about him was anything like she expected, except, of course, the white hair and the fact that he was rich as fuck. He shattered the image she had in her mind of a portly middle-aged man wearing a suit that made him look like a waddling penguin. Instead, he was spry and nimble. His face was jubilant, rather than the magisterial sneer she had envisioned from Weiss' descriptions of him as unchallengeable. Maybe it was just because she was fresh out the cage, but he was the happiest person she had seen in a long time, and she automatically related it to how clean he was. He made her feel unwashed, but he never looked down at her for it.

Once the rain began to fall in earnest, he helped keep the jacket over her head as they ran for his car. He opened the door for her, and bowed while she climbed in. He was getting drenched, so he slid in after her. He sat up straight on the comfortable seat, regal and polished, even with raindrops dripping down his face. Sten smiled at her hesitancy, and Yang finally leaned back.

To go from the dirt and dust, the enclosed, grey, chipped concrete world of Winchester Prison to the soft luxury of smooth calf-leather seats and new car smell air fresheners, was throwing Yang for a loop. She couldn't keep the tears in as she watched the rainfall from behind the protection of bullet-resistant glass.

Sten handed her his handkerchief. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Yang shook her head, screwing up her face. "It was just so horrible in there. They're people, real people. Every single person in there, is treated like shit. There must be a better way. Locking everyone up together with nothing to do isn't the right solution. It drives people crazy, it's not safe."

"You were in there as a precaution, you were not guilty. Some of them are not as innocent as you are."

Yang swallowed. "Weiss didn't tell you what I did to end up inside, did she?"

"I know certainly more than I am entitled to. But even without foreknowledge, I think I'd know you're a fighter."

Yang folded her arms. He could read her like a book, but at least she didn't feel pressured to hide anything from him. Knowing what Weiss said about him, it would be pretty much impossible to lie to him. "Yeah, I am, and it's not the first time it's got me into trouble."

Sten stared thoughtfully out of his rain-drenched window, but Yang caught his eye in the reflection. "I'm not holding it against you."

"A lot of people will. I just came out of jail. You're not stupid, you know what's going on between me and Weiss, and you seem to be ok with it. Honestly, I'm confused by that."

He turned to her fully. "Why? Should I be worried about you?" Yang shook her head no immediately. "I thought so too. She's old enough to make her own choices, I trust Weiss' judgment of you. You must be really special to her. You'll actually be the first."

"First what?"

"You're the first person she's ever asked to come to dinner with us. I think she wants you to stay with us for the school break." He grinned. "I'm not sure if I was supposed to mention that."

"You'd be ok with that?"

"Of course, it's not like we'd run out of space. Our house has 238 bedrooms." Sten happily informed her that arrangements had already been made, although she was free to turn down the invitation if she wished. It was too rude to decline the offer, plus she had always wanted to fly first class. Smiling and giving her the space she needed, Sten watched her carefully while he made phone calls for the rest of the journey. The long car ride finally over, Yang could hear her name being shouted as they pulled up to the gate. She burst out of the passenger door, and ran around the car to face the crowd that had gathered under Beacon's main gate, the thousands who were braving the storm that welcomed Yang home.

Her eyes picked out one face, the only one she cared about seeing. She was standing under the banner that celebrated Yang's return, leaning an umbrella on her shoulder. Yang didn't give a fuck about the rain anymore, she tore down the street and flung her arms open. Weiss dropped her umbrella and charged out of the crowd, her arms held out towards Yang. They fell into one another, hands seeking the each other out. Arms wrapped around, and the hug was warm despite the rain.

"I'm sorry," Weiss choked out the words, and hid her face in Yang's hair.

"Shh, it doesn't matter," Yang murmured, and kissed her several more times on the side of the head. Weiss snuggled her so much tighter, she was holding on for dear life. They stayed that way for several minutes, getting soaked by the rain. Thousands of photos were taken of their reunion, the emotional display open to the public, but Yang still kept most of her feelings bottled up. They smiled a bit for their fans, but kept the interaction to a minimum and their faces were bent low to avoid making eye contact.

Sten approached under the cover of a large umbrella, keeping a slight distance. "Hello Weiss."

"Father. You came."

"It's been a while. I'm happy to see you."

Weiss clenched her fist and her jaw. "Me too."

"Don't I get a hug?" Sten held out his arm, even though Weiss was soaked to the bone. For this reason and many others, it was possibly the most awkward father-daughter hug that Yang had ever seen. "I've missed you."

"Yes, well." Weiss cleared her throat twice. "Didn't you say you couldn't stay for long?"

Sten said his goodbyes and drove off in his fancy wheels to make his way to the airport. He was due for a business meeting at noon, but Yang doubted that he was going to make it on time. He seemed to be fine with wasting time with her, and she barely met him today.

Weiss became much more smiley and enthusiastic once he was gone from view. Weiss indicated with a wave that they were ready to go inside. Help in the form of security was provided by Professor Port, whose large size was perfect for carving a path through the crowd so they could walk through the gates. His big hands pushed people back, and snatched away cheeky fingers that reached out to touch them. Once they were safely indoors, Port shut the doors behind them, mumbling about foolhardiness from beneath his great moustache.

Weiss squeezed some of the water out of her hair. "Ok, we need to pack. I'm taking you on holiday over the break, so we can get away from the city."

"But what about Ruby and Blake?"

"They're waiting for you back at the dorm. You know Blake hates rain, so she was waiting for you where it's dry, and where there's less people. We can hang with them for a couple hours before they set off for Patch. Then we'll make our way to the airport together to see them off, and catch our flight."

"Couldn't we stay here and chill?"

"Well, you could stay here and deal with the fallout from closing ΩBeaconBabes by yourself."

"You shut it down?"

"Yeah. I sold it." Weiss sighed and shrugged. "It was too much work. I thought about what you said, about how people judge you, and you're right. That's what people think of you, because that's what they see. They're not actually interested in knowing us, just our picture."

"But, we were making dough."

"Don't worry, we still do. Not as much, but ΩFreezerBurn is doing ok for now. Every week I sell the new owners a photo from our collection. Most of our fanbase has moved over to the new page, like you said they would. We still have trolls, but a lot of them went in the cull, so you were right about that too."

Yang sniggered. "Not just a pretty face, am I?"

"Well, if you wanna get technical, you're a CEO."

Yang needed to tie her shoelaces, because she be trippin'. "What?!"

"Well, I couldn't keep stockpiling the money in a current account, Inland Revenue started sending us letters, so I incorporated Freezerburn LLC, which we own jointly. Ruby gave me your address to set everything up. I mean, there's some papers for you to sign so we can finalise everything, but other than that, we're good to go on being our own bosses."

"Wow, CEO." Yang wolf whistled. "Never thought I'd see the day."

"Yeah, just like father." Weiss tutted. "You met him already."

"Yeah. That was weird."

"Sorry if he was horrible."

"No, he wasn't. He seems nice."

Weiss gulped. "Good, good." She nodded cautiously. "Did he say anything else?"

"He told me that you want me to come visit you over the break."

"Ah. I wish he'd let me ask you, I had a whole speech planned. I would really like it if you came to stay with us. Summer in Atlas is the nicest time to go."

"I'm not worried about the weather, I'm worried about meeting your folks. They won't like me. I just came out of prison, not the best start, is it? I'm too thick, Weiss, and your family are going to see that."

"I don't care what they think of you, I just want them to meet you. Stop looking like a sad little puppy. They'll see what I see, I'm sure of it. Plus Winter's on leave at the moment, so she'll be there. You can be at her welcome home party, and I can introduce you to all my friends from back home."

That did not appease Yang in the slightest. "Have you told them about me?"

"Not yet."

"But you definitely don't care what they think of me?" Yang raised an eyebrow. "When were you planning on telling them?"

"When we walk in the door. The best we can hope for from Winter is indifference, as long as she doesn't hate you. Don't stress, my mother will be too out of it to care, and my father seems to be ok with you."

"Are you just saying that to make me feel better?"

"Maybe."

"Weiss!"

"My father's the CEO of a multi-national, billion-Lien corporation, he has extremely high standards. He's very strict but fair." Weiss was sugarcoating, her father was known to be harsh and exacting of his staff and he viewed his family as public-facing employees. Anything less than immaculate was unacceptable.

"And my mother, well I'm not going to lie, there is a very real possibility that she won't like you but it really won't matter because nobody listens to her drunken rants so," Weiss shrugged, "you have nothing to worry about."

Yang still felt like there was a lot to worry about. "Your folks are ok with the fact that I'm a girl?"

Weiss flipped her hair behind her shoulder, so she could make her callous shrug more noticeable. "Yeah, they're fairly progressive in that regard."

"Wow, my dad would blow a gasket if I brought a girl home. I come from a backwater village on a backwater island where people are really old-fashioned. Back home, the neighbour's kid was gay, when he told them, they threw him out. He was my best friend, I grew up with him. We came out to each other and vowed to keep each other's secret because we knew it was a small town, everyone knew everyone. I thought dad would offer him some kindness and let him stay with us for a while, and I very nearly asked but I kept quiet when he said he was glad that disgusting thing was off his street, and said it was unnatural. Don't get me wrong, my dad is a great dad, he'd never let anything hurt me or Ruby but he's a bit backward, you know? I've known I was bi from a young age, so I just hid it from him, from everyone. Ruby found out, though luckily, she doesn't think like dad."

"My family comes with its own unique set of problems."

"I can imagine."

"As you know, I can be very demanding," Yang scoffed, but only because Weiss was stating the obvious. "And my family even more so. I'm the youngest daughter, so I'm quite special to them. I wouldn't have allowed myself to like you if you weren't suitable, so you shouldn't worry about it."

"I think there was a compliment in there somewhere, but I can't help feeling like I'm going to be put on trial by Schnee Incorporated for the position of your girlfriend."

"You won't be put on trial. They're just protective of their little girl. Although, it probably wouldn't hurt to bring your grades up a bit. But that wouldn't be for them, that's mainly for yourself."

Yang shivered and not from her rain-soaked clothes. "Sounds like I'll be a major disappointment. Weiss, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Of course I am. I chose you specially, and I make excellent choices. Please don't worry about them, I don't really care what they think, but I want to do the right thing and let them meet you."

Weiss led her by the hand, Yang had to be dragged along. The corridors that previously felt so familiar, now excluded her from absorbing the warmth of them. Like she was a trespasser or an intruder in her own home. The colours seemed different, more of an attack on her senses rather than something to appreciate. The art and decor seemed gaudy, even though she had never noticed such things before.

They changed out of their wet clothes, and Yang took an extended shower, so long that Weiss grew impatient, but didn't complain. She would let Yang do whatever she wanted, and rearrange her life around her to make Yang more comfortable. She had exchanged the plane tickets twice already so they could spend a bit longer at home.

With the remnants of prison rinsed off her, Yang watched the dirty water circle the drain. Her bath stuff had been left alone mostly, but she did use a bit of Weiss' shampoo so she could re-learn the scent of it. Way more at ease, Yang finally got to wear her own clothes again. Blake must have had the wise idea that Yang might be hungry, so she and Ruby had gone on a quest for snacks and returned halfway through Yang's shower. Ruby shot towards her at maximum speed and leapt into Yang's arms, giving her kisses like there was no tomorrow.

"I missed you so bad, Yang!" she squealed.

"Missed you too, pipsqueak."

Yang opened her eyes to see Blake patiently waiting her turn. Yang nearly let her feelings run away with her over the simple fact that Blake was still there, and had not left because of her. "I've never been so happy to see your face, Blake."

There was no way Ruby was letting Yang go, so she stuck an arm out and dragged Blake into the cuddle. Though she was embarrassed at first, Blake gave some of the best hugs in the world and gave in to the group hug, putting her arms around Ruby and Yang. She refused to let Weiss get away without being involved, she pulled her into the embrace as well and they breathed in the gratifying team spirit. No, it was more than that. Ruby and Yang shared a father, but now, all of them were deeply connected by familial bonds, the absence of Yang only making them grow much fonder of her and of each other. Blood of the covenant is thicker than water of the womb.

Packing was easier said than done, Yang had a lot more stuff than she remembered. She left most of it behind, she couldn't find reasons why she would need all of it. They would return to the dorm in less than a month, her stuff would still be there when they got back. It was fun to help Ruby pack though. Ruby had always been useless at packing. She would remember her whetstone, and her headphones at least, but forget her underwear and toothbrush. Yang listed the essentials off the top of her head while Ruby pointed to the items and yelled 'check!' She finally had something to laugh about when Ruby rifled through all her bags in a desperate panic looking for her best sniper scope, making double sure she packed it.

The airport was the setting for a few more massive group hugs. Yang had barely spent any time with Ruby and Blake and now she had to say goodbye. It was hard to let them go so easily. They promised they would call at least once a week.

Ruby gave Weiss a private hug while Yang and Blake were busy with their own. "You better look after my sister, I'm trusting you to take care of her."

"You know I will. Don't be worried, I know just what she needs."

"You guys are so perfect for each other."

Weiss scowled when Yang and Blake caught her being so happy in such a tight embrace with Ruby. She cleared her throat and smoothed down her ruffled clothing. She and Blake stood around awkwardly while Yang and Ruby had their final goodbye hug. When it was obvious that this was going to be a long one, Weiss leaned over to whisper.

"Thanks for all your help. I don't know what I would've done without you."

"Any time, Ice Queen." Blake's smirk sweetened when Weiss looked up at her sharply. "It was nothing. You're a good friend, you would've done the same for me."

"Maybe one day you could come visit my house. We have the hugest private library in the whole world."

"I don't think that's such a good idea. Doesn't your family hate the Faunus?"

"If I said no, would you believe me?"

Blake made a wry smile with one side of her mouth. "They'd hate me, and it's an awful idea."

"Actually, they're ok with individual Faunus, just not large groups."

"Like the White Fang, or even my little group of political friends? I can see that going down so well with them. I don't think I'd be able to keep my mouth shut if the issue came up."

"Yeah, you're right. Probably best if you didn't come then."

"Thanks for the offer, though. It's the thought that counts."

All too soon, a pleasant ascending jingle and computerised voice informed Ruby and Blake that their flight was boarding. Another massive round of hugs ensued, almost making Ruby and Blake the last ones to board. Yang and Weiss had another hour to wait yet.

"Goodbye, Yang! Have fun, and be good." Ruby waved. Yang and Weiss watched and waved back until they were out of sight. Weiss reached for Yang's hand, her fingers rubbed her skin for a second, until Yang clasped hands with her. Weiss leant her head on Yang's shoulder, and Yang curled an arm around her.

"Weiss, I need to tell you something. I'm sorry we had that fight. I was mad, but not at you."

"I'd already forgotten about it."

"I am really sorry though. You forgive me, right?" Yang chewed the inside of her lip.

"Yeah, of course." Weiss stroked Yang's cheek, and hurt filled her eyes with tears when she brushed over Yang's trembling jaw. "You knew I would, right?"

Yang took a deep breath and pursed her lips. Weiss' whole body flushed with fear, Yang was so close, but she seemed miles away. Weiss brought Yang's face down to her. "I don't care what happened when I saw you in prison. I was honestly so happy to see you today, Yang. I wasn't just acting because I was in front of a ton of people. It was one of the best moments of my life to have you back."

"Good." Yang leant in for the kiss, but a small flash caught her eye before they managed to close. Yang looked around to find where the light came from. She turned away from Weiss as someone tapped her on the shoulder. She wished she hadn't acknowledged it, but it was too late.

"Are you that Huntress from Scrollmates?" said a complete stranger right up in Yang's face.

"Do you mind, we were having a moment."

"Yeah, a moment that you fucking killed."

The stranger took a step back. "Whoa, I can see why they locked you up. You've got an attitude problem and a half." They fled before Yang could snap again.

Yang sighed and facepalmed. "Shit. I probably shouldn't have said that."

"Forget about them. They're not important."

"I shouldn't have been rude, now they'll hate me and tell all their friends what a bitch I am."

"Yang, stop it. You don't have to be this public figure if you don't want to be. You're not the Beacon Babe anymore, you don't owe anyone anything." Weiss covered Yang's tightly wound fist with her hand. She glanced to the people who were still watching from afar. "Come on, ignore them. I know just the thing to cheer you up."

Yang didn't find it difficult to deduce what Weiss had in mind: shopping. But first they went over to the airline desk, the queue for which ate up a lot of the time they had left before their flight was due to depart. Weiss saw the stress lines displaying on Yang's forehead.

"Don't worry, I'm going to exchange the tickets so we have a bit longer."

"But isn't it going to cost a lot more to change the tickets again?"

"Sure, but why not? There's no rush. Come on, we can shop in the duty free."

Weiss did try to avoid making Yang her octopus-armed bag carrier, but Yang ended up laden with thirty pounds of shopping in each hand. Weiss ran around like an excited ferret, showing Yang around all her favourite boutiques. Yang found little joy in spending frivolously, she wasn't looking to impress anyone with her financial assets, she had enough physical assets to do that. But she indulged her girlfriend, giving her honest opinion when asked.

"What do you think of this one?" Weiss held up a bubblegum pink dress, that still trailed on the floor with her arm fully extended.

It was a bit, well, pink. "You get it if you like it."

"But I thought about getting it for you, don't you want it?"

Yang's brow creased. "Not really."

"But it's so expensive, doesn't it look beautiful?" Weiss draped the dress over her body. There were an awful lot of nines on the price tag. Yang was still not impressed.

"Yeah, but don't splurge just because, get me something nice for an occasion or something."

"What could be more appropriate, you've just been released from prison."

"Well, exactly. Don't you think it's a bit much? Bargain bucket would be a step up for me."

"Hell no, you're not wearing anything with a discount under my watch."

"I don't like it anyway."

"Yang, please let me get you something. I missed your birthday last month."

Yang scoffed. "So did I." Yang's secondhand experience of 'Birthday Beats' scared her off enough that she kept her birthday a secret. She didn't even open the card she got from Ruby, because she knew it would draw attention to her.

"See. We need to do something to celebrate you getting out, and do something about your birthday. We have so much to catch up on."

"Yeah, but, I don't need stuff, ok. I need you."

Weiss crinkled the expensive material as she gripped it with suddenly sweaty hands. She knew she was smiling, and her cheeks were hot and flushed, she was sure she looked ridiculous. She flung the dress over the rack, and started a word that stopped before it reached her lips. It took a moment for Yang to realise what she had said, and they both fell into a desperately needed hug.

"This is all I need, I promise."

Weiss only dared to lean back for a second, but thought better of it. Nuzzling Yang was way better than bursting into tears in public - happy tears were way more embarrassing than normal ones. Weiss did not make a fuss about making any more extravagant purchases, but she did insist on getting Yang some practical winter clothes without springing for the most expensive items unless they both assessed and agreed on the quality.

Yang was awestruck by the luxury offered in first class. The bathroom was the most shocking, it had a fully functioning shower and a vanity mirror that had amazing lighting, perfect for selfies. There was still no room to swing a cat, but at least everything was in easy reach, like the quilted, scented toilet paper and the gold-speckled, pearl-enhanced hand wash. She could relax with champagne, and gourmet canapés on tap, and lay back in her padded, fully reclining seat to watch the latest movies together with Weiss. It did not matter when Yang drifted in and out of sleep, they found ultimate comfort aboard, with Yang resting her head on Weiss' bosom and feeling her chest rise and fall with every breath. Weiss definitely did not take advantage of Yang's snoozing to play with her hair.

Over on the other side of the world, people jumped out of Weiss Schnee's way, mainly because of the security escort that attached onto her from the moment they landed. They performed their own inspection of their luggage and ran metal detectors suspiciously over their bags and persons before they could go through the actual airport security. Yang found herself detesting the proximity they kept to her, she couldn't breathe or look sideways at things going on because of the men in black surrounding them in tight formation. Every moment of their journey was itinerated, from the airport to an armoured car to a private train, even their walking routes were mapped out and planned so that Weiss spent as little time as possible out in the open.

"What's with all the hired muscle?" Yang asked, once they were seated in the safety of the train's premier cabin. They had it all to themselves, except for the two silent guards at each door.

"Oh. My father was kidnapped and held for ransom when he was a little boy because he managed to escape his minder for literally one minute. Not a week goes by without some sort of threat to our safety so they are quite necessary. They don't bother me anymore."

"Well, they bother me. Could you tell them not to get too close?"

"Sure." Weiss swivelled her head to glare at one of the bodyguards, who nodded half an inch and then returned to being still as a statue.

Small settlements dotted the huge expanses of grey nothingness, Yang watched out the window as the villages of the old Mantle kingdom whizzed past the speeding train. These places truly felt on the edge of civilisation, the wilderness a mere stone's throw away. Far in the distance, a white-capped mountain dominated the landscape, head and shoulders above the range it protruded from, the visible side was curved like a hag's nose. Weiss pointed to the mountain and told Yang that was where they were headed, she lived about halfway up the dormant volcano.

The train climbed, zig-zagging through the steep terrain. The higher the altitude, the colder the air became. Long, spindly fingers of frost spanned over the windows. Yang shivered. She wasn't used to the cold. Weiss suggested some of the extra layers bought at the airport and Yang put them on over her clothes.

Yang was so grateful she did because the blast of cold air that hit her when the doors opened at their final destination chilled her to the bone. High up, the icy winds chapped her lips and made her face tingle, and Weiss' teeth were chattering after only two minutes outside. They almost jogged for the car that was waiting with the engine running, and once safely inside they cranked up the temperature on the heated seats and vents, while their bags were packed neatly into the trunk for them. The trip only took five minutes, and was mostly the distance from the main road up the driveway of the formidable Bletchley House. They were dropped off at the doors, and greeted by staff in uniform. Yang was disallowed from touching her bags even though she wanted to carry them, and offered to help multiple times, but the call of central heating and escaping from the wind was too strong to stand around and argue.

Weiss handed over her coat and the rest of her outer clothing without a second thought, but Yang felt uncomfortable giving her stuff to a friendly Faunus gentleman to hang up. She obviously knew she would get it back, she only needed to ask, but she was completely unaccustomed to being treated like a delicate flower.

"May I get you a drink?" the butler asked, before Yang got a chance to be introduced.

"Something hot. Non-alcoholic." Weiss gave clear instructions.

"Oooh, yes please."

"Very good."

"Thanks, uh, I didn't catch your name." He was already gone, she was speaking to his coat tails. Yang exhaled, crestfallen that she had not been polite enough to ask his name before he served her. She turned to Weiss for help and confirmation that she had not started off on the wrong foot.

Weiss regarded her sympathetically. "Would you like the tour while we wait? Our bags will be in my room by the time we're done."

"Some other time maybe, I'd really like to get warm if that's possible."

"Of course." Weiss offered her hand to Yang, and they joined, but not before Yang rubbed hers together and blew into them so Weiss would not have to touch the icicles she had for fingers.

Weiss led her through to a sitting room filled with antique furniture. Every painting on the wall was a fine work of art, original, and framed by ornate patterned wood, some bare, some inlaid with gold or other precious metals. The Schnees obviously took interior decorating very seriously, Yang could tell from the spotless fireplace that was taller than her, a chandelier bigger than Yang had ever seen in her life, intricate hand-woven rugs, fragile ornaments galore on prestigious pedestals. Yang stared around, trying and failing to take it all in.

"Are you gonna sit down or what?"

Yang felt like she would be billed for any dirt or damage to the wood-backed couch. Weiss pushed her down, Yang collapsed at the knees, sending her into the firm cushions. She hit her head slightly on the back rest. The bang shook something in her head, and a thought clicked.

"Are your parents really letting me stay in your room?"

Weiss plopped down next to her. "Yeah, why wouldn't they?"

"My dad doesn't let boys stay in my room."

"They've always given me that kind of freedom. They know you, well, my father's already met you. It's not like you're a stranger. Thank you, Woodhouse." Weiss reached up to take the two steaming drinks off the silver tray held out by the Faunus butler. He put the tray on the side table and closed the door behind him. "My parents don't like it when I lie, so if I'm honest with them, they can actually be quite accommodating."

Yang cradled her china mug with both hands, trying to suck some of the heat out of it. "That's fair."

Weiss snuggled up to Yang. "Warming up nicely?"

Yang couldn't help but notice how empty the house felt, even though she knew there were a full complement of butlers and maids, waiting to cater for her every need. "Getting there. Where are your parents anyway?"

Weiss checked her watch. "Father is at work, mother is about somewhere. We were supposed to be back several hours ago, I can't imagine she would wait for us. Are you sure you don't want me to show you around?"

"I wanna see your room."

"Ok, follow me."

Weiss' bedroom was almost exactly like Yang imagined, except three times the size, and that was only the main room. Yang couldn't have dreamed up the spiral staircases leading up and down to another two rooms of equal size. Weiss pointed out her music studio below them, with her own mini-recording studio and ridiculously pompous white grand piano. Above was another living room, decked out in swanky, comfortable furniture, much more homely and modern than the room downstairs. All the decor that looked like it came from an interior design show, cool and kind of plain, was centred around the focal point of an enormous bay window, looking out over the mountain range. She had a marble fireplace on one wall, and framed photos of her family and friends resting on the mantelpiece. Warmth flooded through Yang as she noticed a rather formal photo of Team RWBY in their uniforms front and centre of the arrangement of photographs. It was the only human touch in the room.

"That used to be my favourite picture of you," Weiss said when she noticed Yang inspecting it.

"Which one is your favourite now?" Yang wondered whether it was the same as hers.

"There's too many to choose from. I could narrow it down, but only to a hundred, at least. A top ten would be impossible. You're very photogenic."

"So are you."

"Aw, stop it. I can't hold a candle to you."

"Still don't know how to take a compliment." Yang sucked her teeth and gave Weiss a little kiss on the cheek, turning it pink. Weiss slipped into her arms. "So, this is your room where you grew up?"

"When I was at home, yeah. Do you like it?"

"You say that like you didn't spend a lot of time here."

"Well, I live here but Winter and I were at boarding school most of the time."

"Oh." Silly Yang, of course Weiss went to boarding school. Probably a very exclusive one that cost more than Yang could fathom. "Well, it's just like I imagined." Yang surveyed the huge room, but her focus returned to the room's main feature, the thing that brought it all together.

Weiss stood up straighter, she knew that she was being judged. "What?" she asked, verging on impatience.

"Weiss, you've changed. I can see it in your stature. Let me look at you." Weiss stepped back and stripped down to her vest with a sly grin. Yang's eyes popped. "Wow, you're jacked."

"I know right." Weiss raised her arms and flexed for Yang.

Yang bit her lip and took in the wonderful sight of Weiss from behind. "Oh my god, your glutes, they're so-" Big. Plump. Gravity-defying. Mouthwatering. Yang swallowed.

"Perfect?" Weiss raised her eyebrow. "Go ahead, feel. It's the closest you'll ever get to heaven."

"Such a huge difference. You still did it. All that time I was inside." Yang continued to walk circles around Weiss, moving helped to hide the emotion in her voice.

"It improves my strength at fighting and glyphs, and my endurance is through the roof. I couldn't give it up."

"How much do you weigh now?"

"One three five."

"Squat?"

"One three five."

"Nice! Deadlift?"

"Two Three Five!"

Yang laughed, surprised but very pleased. "You gonna show me what you can do?"

"Yeah, come on. We have a private gym."

"All this time we've been training, you've never mentioned that you have a gym at home?"

Weiss shivered. It was on the other side of the house that she barely went in, she hadn't actually seen it since it was installed. "Well, it's not mine really. It's my father's."

"Your dad trains?"

"I don't know what he does. He has a personal trainer, and goes first thing every morning. But, wait, before we do that. Yang, I haven't seen you for about twelve weeks." Weiss climbed onto the bed and its double thick mattress, facing Yang, on her knees so that they were about the same height. Weiss started undoing Yang's belt. Yang stood in front of her, staring down her top, with a cheeky, lazy smile on her face.

"Twelve weeks is a long time. By my count, it was more like two months, fifteen days, seventeen hours, and twenty-five minutes. Did you miss me?"

Weiss licked her lips. "What do you think?" she teased, as she whipped the leather out of its belt loops. She flicked the end of it around Yang's waist and caught it to entrap Yang and pull her forwards. Yang didn't hesitate to push Weiss down on the bed and kiss her senseless. It felt so good to be in private, something that Yang had sorely missed while in jail. Even without climbing under the covers properly, she could tell it was the most comfortable bed that she had ever lain on. They put every inch of the enormous four-poster bed to good use, rolling around playfully and messing about.

Yang blinked away tears that had grown unexpectedly under her eyelids. She kissed Weiss over and over again to hide them from her. Their mouths were wet, so it shouldn't be too surprising that her eyes were wet too, at least that was the logic that Yang was using to convince herself that everything was fine. All hope of concealment was lost when Weiss insisted that they stare into one another's eyes, in between peppering kisses all over Yang's face. Weiss tasted the salty tears.

Weiss propped herself up on her arms, hovering over Yang with a desperate look of concern. "Are you ok?"

Yang sniffed. "Yeah."

Weiss' nose wrinkled at the blatant lie. "You're crying."

Yang hid her mess of a face in the nape of Weiss' neck. "I just missed you is all."

Weiss' previously grabby hands were much less so; she soaked her fingers with tenderness and painted them around Yang's body. All their kisses were intimate but were refreshingly free from the pressure of foreplay. They placed themselves on their sides, leg entwined, so they were on equal footing.

"You sure you're ok?"

"Mmhm." Yang kissed Weiss on the nose. "Promise."

"There's something I want to show you."

Yang almost let her jaw drop when she saw Weiss naked for the first time, but she had to keep her mouth closed to keep all the drool inside. Yang was seriously impressed by the lean tissue she had added to her frame, Yang knew all about how hard it was for females to grow muscle. Weiss loved showing off her new curves. Yang couldn't get enough of the sight of her, the sound of her voice, the feel of her hard muscles beneath the soft and silky skin. She kissed Weiss' neck, on her clavicle, down towards her breasts, sliding her hand up and down Weiss' gorgeous thighs.

"Talk dirty to me."

"How will I be able to talk dirty if you're sitting on my face? Get over here, I want you all over me."

"Oh, you want to play like that." Yang dragged Weiss by the ankles, bringing her closer, rather than moving towards her, and mounted her. All her internal defenses and barriers she had erected in prison collapsed, she could almost physically sense them melting away.

"Fuck, Weiss. Your tongue feels so fucking good. Who've you been practising on?" Yang giggled.

Weiss frowned and tonguefucked Yang even deeper, hoping she would forget about everything else. Yang's lithe naked body tensed, her knuckles were white as her fingers dug into the soft headboard. Yang whimpered weakly, she hadn't sex in such a long time, she found it hard to let go and just release.

Weiss looked past Yang's ever-prominent six-pack, in between the gap of her cleavage, to her face. There was no grin, her eyes were closed, but not out of pleasure. Maybe she was trying too hard, or not hard enough, but Yang didn't seem as into it as Weiss remembered. Weiss retracted her tongue.

"No, don't stop."

Weiss moaned, pressing herself into Yang's snatch. She kissed and sucked on Yang's clit, coaxing it out of its hood, using her fingers to spread Yang wide open. A groan and a hiss escaped Yang's throat. She bounced up and sat back down, letting her full weight rest on Weiss. Weiss reached around and cupped Yang's ass, holding her in place. Her tongue found its way inside Yang's wet hole again, but she put less force behind her licks. Eventually, she got Yang to surrender to the bliss, and rub her pussy on Weiss' face and beg for more. Weiss would never have stopped, but Yang climbed off and gave Weiss a big thank-you kiss.

"You are quite the cunning linguist."

"You did not just say that."

"The old classics are still the best."

"It's funny, you know, you used to make me so tongue-tied."

"Your tongue has some serious talent. It's worth waiting for, let me tell you." Yang kissed her sopping wet lips, loving the taste of herself in her girlfriend's mouth.

Being summoned for dinner was the only way to make them leave the decadence of the soft bed. Reluctant to dress, Weiss compromised and put on her pajamas, and gave Yang a matching posh robe de chambre to wear over their bedclothes. The only other member of the Schnee family present was Rosa Schnee - already sloshed, and sitting at the table on ceremony, rather than because she was consuming the delicious food the staff brought out of the kitchen. Yang noticed that she had left it to go cold.

Yang could see where Weiss got her sense of style and makeup skills. Rosa was a picture perfect model, stunning baby blue eyes, full bow-shaped lips (possibly artificially enhanced), classically beautiful cheekbones, and a cute chin, except she was five foot nothing. Her long smooth hair was rose gold, with well-maintained pale pink and white highlights. She was fashionably dressed in a way that impressed Yang, but Rosa probably felt quite casual. Her ample bosom was on flamboyant display and seemed about 20 years younger that she did, Yang wondered when she might've gotten those installed. She was at ease enough that she wasn't hiding the fact that she could barely stand straight and revelled in taking a seat at the head of the table, and had the staff bring her endless martinis and vodka on the rocks.

"So, Yang, is it? That's a fabulous name, darling. Where's it from?" Rosa ate the olive from the cocktail stick, it was the only thing that Yang saw her eat - obviously it had to be drenched in gin.

Yang shot a sideways glance at Weiss who nodded for her to proceed as normal. "I'm from Patch like my dad. I'm named after him."

"Wonderful, darling. It's quite common to have a hand-me-down name, isn't it? Sweetie, we chose your name because it was your great-grandmother's middle name. Full of history, darling, very respectable." Rosa raised her drink, toasting to nothing in particular, but she used it as an excuse to finish her glass in one glug. "Weiss, sweetie, are you seeing anyone, darling?"

"This is my girlfriend. I thought I told you."

"Oh, right. Yes, I remember now. Girlfriend, darling. That's great, sweetie. Couldn't be happier for you, sweetie-darling." Rosa lit a long, slim cigarette at the table. Her cheeks sunk in as she took a drag, emphasising her elegant bone structure even more. "Fantastic! How long have you two lovebirds been together, eh?" She knocked the ash on the plate she was meant to be eating from.

Weiss facepalmed at her mother's insincerity. "I'm sorry about her." Weiss whispered.

"Don't be." Yang whispered back, smirking.

"A few months, mother. That's eight cases of wine to you." she added under the breath so Yang snorted into her glass.

"Few months? Fabulous, darling. You kids these days, falling in love at the drop of a hat. Speaking of, when should I buy a hat, sweetie?"

"Mother!"

"Well, I like to be prepared, darling. It's always good to know your plans in advance. Everything moves so fast these days, that's why I smoke blunts. Everyone needs to relax every now and again. So, Yang, how was prison?" Rosa asked, like prison was a spa getaway.

"Uhhh…" Yang cleared her throat. "It was-"

"Hey, can we change the subject?"

"Only trying to be friendly, darling. You know, show that I'm interested. Whatever. Who's up for a bit of fun tonight, sweetie-darling? I feel like we should have a party, seeing as it's your first night here. Celebration, darling, that's what we need. Have you ever tried cocaine, Yang?" She fluttered her eyelashes at Yang, and swirled her latest cocktail, something pink with a mint leaf floating in it.

Weiss was losing her patience. "Mother, that's inappropriate at the dinner table. You're already hammered, any more and you'll pass out where you stand!"

Rosa had already taken her stash out, but she rolled her eyes and put it away after Weiss' scowl and hand signal to cut it out. Rosa tossed up her bejewelled hands in dismay. "Just making conversation, darling."

The rest of dinner was just as hilariously awkward, with Rosa getting progressively more drunk. Yang couldn't hide her amusement, and Rosa didn't seem to mind Yang. She actually listened when Yang answered which made Weiss knock over a glass in shock. The butler came to clean it up, and threw a sly smirk in Yang's direction. He found it just as funny as Yang at her discovery that Rosa was a decadent lush. Rosa laughed along with them, all the while never realising that she was the butt of the joke.

The red wine that was served with the pheasant went straight to Yang's head. It had been ages since she'd had proper alcohol, and it went down quite easily, almost too easily. She followed Weiss upstairs, stumbling, full of giggles and food.

"Let's do the gym thing tomorrow, I'm stuffed."

"Sounds like a plan, I'm a bit groggy from all the travelling anyway."

They didn't need to change for bed since they were already in their PJs. Yang took one look at the bed and already felt the tendrils of sleep seep into her brain. Her head was so heavy, her eyelids were closing. Weiss curled her arms around Yang from behind, holding her upright. Yang sighed as she felt small fingers move her hair, and soft, warm lips on the skin of her neck. Weiss lavished her with attention, taking care of Yang's desires and her own. The PJs went straight into the laundry, and they climbed into bed, satiated and tired. Yang was right, she was laying on a cloud. Leaving would be nigh impossible. They were wrapped in each other's arms, trying to avoid falling asleep but it proved futile.

Weiss woke first, but she couldn't move. She was encased in the duvet and Yang's arm was resting over her body. She yawned, it was very possible to go back to sleep, but she relaxed into the pillows and watched Yang slumber for about half an hour.

"Morning, sleepy head."

"Wow, that was the best night's sleep ever."

"It was, wasn't it? What would you like for breakfast? You can eat basically anything you want."

"Don't want to go anywhere at the moment." Yang gathered Weiss closer to her. "I want to enjoy this for a bit longer."

Weiss chuckled. "Whatever you like, darling."

Maybe an hour later, they got up and wandered down to the kitchen. Weiss ate what Yang requested, a full plate of fat-filled fried food, Yang found it was what she craved most after the scarcity of it in jail. Their eyes bulged at the size of the feast laid out before them, there was no way they could eat it all, but Yang promised herself she would try. Weiss nearly beat Yang with the sheer quantity of food she ate, but she stopped before she polished off her third plate. Yang told her not to worry about the effects on her body, they would be hitting the gym soon, and the thought of training with Yang brought a big smile to Weiss' face.

"This is your gym? Holy fuck." It made Beacon's refurbished gym look like a kid's soft play area. Yang bounced around, inspecting all the high-end equipment, slightly envious that Weiss had all this cool stuff in her house. It was clearly designed by someone who knew their way around the weight room. Yang couldn't wait to get started, and Weiss suggested they start with the exercise she loved to hate the most: deadlifts.

Weiss prepped herself to repeat the best performance she had ever put on with the bar. Yang puffed up with pride that Weiss got into the perfect setup and heaved with a back so straight you could balance a beer on it. Yang's eyes widened when she saw how easy it was for Weiss to lift well over double her bodyweight, such a drastic improvement to the last time they had been in a gym together. It was her best lift, but her squat was more than decent too.

"Weiss, I'm so impressed. I can't believe you did it all by yourself. I'm so proud of you."

"Did I do good?"

"Yes, big time! Please tell me you're proud of yourself as well."

"I did it, mainly, for you." Weiss snapped her fingers. "Oh yeah, Yang. Guess who single-handedly wiped the training room floor with Team CRDL when you were gone. I'll give you a clue, me."

"What, really?" Yang let her surprise be heard in her voice.

"Don't be too shocked, it's not that hard to believe."

"I mean, of course, sorry. Well done. I wanna watch the replay."

"We can stream it on my TV upstairs, once you've finished your set." Weiss double clicked her fingers this time, pointing to the bar resting on the lifting platform.

"Gotten quite domineering while I've been gone, I see. No one around to put you in your place." Yang teased.

"Yang Xiao Long, whatever you're insinuating, I strongly disagree. I've always been this way."

"Hmf. Don't ever change. I like this new and improved Weiss."

Weiss let smugness fill her head. It had been a long while since she had seen Winter or the rest of her extended family, she was sure they would be shocked at the changes she had undergone. She couldn't wait to showcase her new self to them at Winter's party. The dress she had chosen overtly displayed the highlights of her physical improvements, and made her even more excited when Yang told her it was the sexiest garment that she had ever seen her wear. She watched her diet the whole day to ensure she wasn't bloated for the big event.

Like the rest of the house, or mansion really, the party was huge. A live jazz quintet was playing on a raised stage in one corner, there was a real bar next to the door to the kitchen, and hundreds of people enjoying the party, served by hundreds of staff members. Everything about it was excessive, the size of the hall, the drinks, the food, the airs and graces exuding from every guest. It was quite sickening, Yang felt horribly out of place, having trouble bringing out her inner party girl. She grabbed the first drink that was passed under her nose, and kept sipping to give her something to do while Weiss dragged her around by the arm.

"First things first, you should meet Winter."

Winter had her back to them as they approached, she was almost as tall as her father and stood proud, her posture making clear she was made to march and stand at attention for hours. Any misalignments would have been stamped out of her by drill sergeants. She and her father seemed to be having a rather heated conversation in whispers.

"Darling, if you would simply tell me who he is then I'll let him stay here. So you don't have to sneak him through the window on your balcony."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"So be it. Then you know the rules, nobody allowed in your room, Winter."

"I'm twenty-one! I should be able to have whoever I want in my room."

"While you're under my roof, you're under my rule."

Weiss cleared her throat. "Yang, this is my sister, Winter."

Winter's eyes took less than a second to give Yang the once-over. "We've already met."

Weiss' forehead scrunched in agitation. "No, you haven't. When?"

Yang thought it might've been Winter, but she had never been sure. "You were there, at the Vytal Tournament. You know my uncle, Qrow Branwen."

"Unfortunately, yes." Winter's brow darkened her bright eyes. "Qrow's your uncle, so you must be… Dear sister, I must say you have interesting taste."

"What does that mean?" Weiss went a bit red in the face.

Winter smirked with her eyes. "Nothing. I'm just surprised you didn't sneak her through your window." She turned her back and left them.

"Anyway, that's Brandon and his wife." Weiss pointed out one of her older uncles talking to a bald man. "Duncan and his three kids. They're lovely, but I'm not too sure about his second wife. Stay away from Gregor, and don't talk to Argos. Rufus won't bother you, but his girlfriend probably will. She's bessie mates with Petunia, who's nice, but dumb as fuck. Don't tell her anything you want to keep a secret, although if you want to find out a secret, she can help with that too. That's Barry, over there. He's a little weird, but you'll get used to him."

Yang hoped that Weiss didn't expect her to remember everyone. There were a lot of Schnees. "Wow, your family is huge."

"Yeah, sorry. I know it's a lot to take in, some of my relatives I barely know myself, I've only seen them once or twice. You have to meet Lily though, you'll love her. Oh, here she is." Weiss picked up a toddler who was crawling around their feet. Yang nearly jumped backwards in surprise.

"Weiss, she's a chubby, little child, with no peripheral awareness and excess spit. Careful!" Yang untangled the sticky fingers that were poking through Weiss' hair, Lily was very attracted to the sparkly tiara combed into Weiss' updo.

"It's ok, I'll allow her. I think out of all my cousins, she's my favourite. Mainly because she's two and hasn't grown up into a bitchy debutante yet."

Yet another relative came over to say hello. He was in his early to mid-twenties, tall and slim. He had a younger man by his side, going by looks, it was his little brother. "Weiss, it's so nice to see you again. You look incredible, have you lost some weight? I don't think we've spoken since Edward's funeral. How's school?"

"School? It's great. Thanks for asking."

"Weiss, you have forgotten your manners. Aren't you going to introduce your guest, or must I do it for you?" Sten chided from behind them.

"Ah, right. Yes. Sorry. Gus, this is Yang. We go to school together and she's my girlfriend." She did at least attempt to conceal her smugness.

The two lads each gave a noise of recognition and greeted Yang enthusiastically, shaking her hand and introducing themselves. "Welcome, welcome. So you're Weiss' girlfriend. Wow, Weiss, how did you bag her, she's beautiful."

"It's lovely to meet you." Yang shook their hands, and immediately forgot their names.

After the brief interlude to acknowledge Yang's existence, conversation quickly turned back to the original subject of family matters. One of Sten's brothers, a more weathered, but more jovial version of him, had clapped Sten on the back and started another conversation behind Yang.

"Tell me, Finn. How do you look so young?"

"Positive thinking. And I always date a girl younger than myself."

"Terrible business with poor Edward, he was fairly docile. Didn't really get involved in any conflicts."

"What happened to him?" Yang whispered.

"He was murdered, White Fang."

"Keep me informed on the Kuo Kuana investment."

"I'll have the papers with you by tomorrow, tonight if I can manage it. Tax loopholes like those on Menagerie don't stay open for long."

"I guess they saw him as an easy target. Gloria has already vowed revenge, she's been training non-stop."

"An eye for an eye. When are those Faunus bastards going to give up? They've lost, they just haven't realised yet."

"What can I say, their banking system is run by incompetent fools with no idea what they're doing. As long as their demand for Dust keeps growing, I'm sure we could install people in the necessary positions to keep export tariffs low, and claim our costs keep rising."

"The best part is that there's no remittance charge so all the profits are basically tax-free!"

"You say that, we think we've killed them, eradicated them. But they always come back."

"There's always another fool to believe their dogma, another to rise up and incite a riot. Pity they can't get themselves organised enough to coordinate a full-scale war. It's been ages since I had a proper fight."

A new cousin entered the mix. Yang couldn't be sure whether her name had been given previously, so she faded into the background a bit more, and hoped she was ignored.

"Hey, Weiss, where's your sister?"

"I saw her just a minute ago."

"Do you know if she's holding? Or has she gone straight edge?"

The lads were back with drinks, and threw their arms around Weiss' shoulders. "Winter would never take a night off the sesh, right, Weiss? She'll take care of us. She's never let us down before. Are you on it tonight?"

"No, I'm trying to be good."

Her cousin snorted. "Sure, sure. We'll see how long that lasts. Let us know when you're gonna be cool again."

Poor Yang was overloaded, her head whipped from side to side, trying to keep up with the conversations. She surrendered and made a hasty retreat, searching the corridors for a bathroom. She thought she had found it, the door looked very familiar, but she threw it back into its frame as she uncovered two party-goers inside a broom closet, locked in a lover's embrace, and not wearing any pants. Once she recognised Winter Schnee getting busy with one of her many cousins, suddenly Yang needed a bathroom for a different reason. She bumped into a young man, not that much older than her, but way smarmier and richer.

"Looking for a quiet place to go? There's always one of the spare rooms upstairs. I could take you there." He winked.

"Ugh, no! Get out of my way."

"Miss Xiao Long, you're looking a little worse for the wear. Is everything all right?" Sten regarded her with sympathy when she couldn't explain how his family were doing her head in. Sten read it from her facial expression anyway. "I must apologise about my family. They can be a bit much at first."

Yang sighed. "Sorry. I'm trying to fit in here, but it's hard."

"Please don't fit in. Some of these people are terrible human beings."

"That's not a good opinion to have of your family members."

"Oh. Is your family perfect?" he quipped.

Yang furrowed her brow. Her dad was so close to god-level father, but her mother, the one who died, and the woman who gave birth to Yang, were worthless to her as parents. Her uncle Qrow, she loved him, but his favourite was clearly Ruby. He was the silent loner type, and it just didn't gel with her tendency to flame-on when she was excited, and bash things when she didn't get her way. Firecracker, he called her. Pretty to look at, but not so great to be too close when it went off.

"I think I have my answer." Sten smirked. "I don't blindly accept my relatives. My father hired anyone with the name Schnee, regardless of whether they were suitable or not. They caused some serious issues, I've spent most of my career fixing their mistakes. They were a financial black hole, letting them go was hard and, obviously, quite complicated."

"Well, that makes financial sense, I guess."

"Thank you. Not many people saw it that way."

"Who else should I watch out for?"

"Anyone around Weiss' age. I'm quite sure they'll look at you and see a toy to take from Weiss. Her cousins are more like her siblings in that regard, they like to tease her."

"They look out for her though, don't they?"

"Fiercely." Sten said honestly. "She's practically their little sister. Am I boring you?"

Yang jumped, she had been still for quite some time, barely listening to Sten. "No, no."

"How about a stroll through the garden, you look like you could use a break."

"No thanks, Weiss would miss me."

"She'll be fine. Come, let's walk." He offered his arm to link, and Yang took it. When Sten said garden, he really meant courtyard, but the grounds were greener than Yang expected. The well-tended bushes and shrubs were were given regular topiary makeovers and Yang had no idea how they kept everything so lush. The temperature was mild, there was no frost on the ground, and the building protected them from chilly gusts. It was refreshingly alive and prospering, considering how many metres they were above sea level.

"So, Yang, tell me about yourself."

"There's not much to tell really, I'm training to become a Huntress, like my sister. She skipped two years of school because she's so good at it. I'm stoked I get to go to school with her, be on a team with her. Without Ruby, I don't think I would've known Weiss at all."

"So she brought the two of you together?"

"It was a bit of a bumpy ride at first, but yeah. That's how we know each other, they're partners."

"What do you think of Weiss' sister?"

"She's cool."

"You can be honest."

"Well, cool as in literally. She's much more formal than Weiss is. I don't mean that in a bad way, I guess she has to be like that to be in the army."

"My colleague, James, is the headmaster at Atlas Academy and the Major General of the military. In simple terms, he's Winter's boss."

"Yeah, I've met him. He was the one who delivered the news that I was disqualified from the tournament. Did you watch it, the matches with Weiss, I mean. We fought together in one of them."

"Ah, no. I was busy. I'd vaguely heard something about match fixing though. So that was you?"

"No, I didn't fix the match. I won because I'm good. Our opponents weren't chosen at random though, like they were supposed to be. Someone was pulling the strings behind the scenes."

"Why didn't you report it?"

"Because nobody believed me. Well, nobody except Weiss."

"She's always been a firm believer in fairness and justice."

"Yeah, I like that about her." Yang cleared the stuffiness out of her throat. "So, Mr S, tell me something about you."

"I'm not sure what to say, there are a lot of 'facts' about me thrown around by the media. I hope you don't buy into garbage like that."

"No, you seem much more human than they make you out to be."

He chuckled. "I've been around for such a long time, yet I've never met anyone like you. It's refreshing how honest you are. You make me want to kick back, relax, de-stress, and not worry about anything. Or at least, I can pretend and keep a smile on my face while doing so."

"That's not anything that anyone have ever said to me before."

Sten twisted around, as a slight cough was heard from behind them. A young waiter had brought them shots. It seemed their absence did not go unnoticed. "Do you like scotch, Yang?"

No, she really didn't. But she would drink practically anything. Literally, any drink tastes better than hooch. "Sure."

He took their drinks. "I'm afraid I've been unwelcoming. You don't seem at ease here, I hope my attempts at hospitality haven't been taken wrongly."

"No." She cleared her throat. "It's not you. You've been really nice actually."

"Not like she told you?" He raised a cheeky eyebrow.

"She gave me the basic facts. You're apparently a very hard man to please. But I'm certainly not going to badmouth the man who got me out of the slammer."

"I thought she was the one who got you released."

"That's what she wants me to think. But if she could've done it without your help, she would've done it straight away."

"How very observant of you. You seem uncomfortable. You still act like you're not our honoured guest. Have we offended you in some way?"

"No, I…" Yang sighed. "Sorry if it seems that way. I'm just struggling to adjust a little bit."

"Don't apologise. Do let us know if there's anything you need. Please make use of our home, as if it were yours. I want you to feel welcome here."

Yang looked over her shoulder, back to the party. Weiss and her cousins raised shot glasses in a loud toast. "In that case, I think I want to go to bed."

Sten looked hurt for a second, then said, "be my guest."

Yang was fast asleep by the time Weiss trudged up to bed, well and truly past merry and in the realms of dizzy drunk. Rage flared inside her that Yang had left the party without her, even though she failed to notice until it was time to sleep. She was purposefully loud as she got ready, slurring sarcastic comments as if Yang were listening, half-hoping Yang would wake up and trade jibes with her. Weiss only managed to remove the top layers of her clothes and makeup, then passed out on the bed.

Weiss woke up to find two aspirin and a glass of water next to her, but no Yang. She stared around, bleary eyed, trying to find a trace of her girlfriend. Panic began to set in, trying to wrack her memory in case she did something horrid and embarrassing. Yang finally walked out of the bathroom, wearing a towel, and a silly grin.

"Morning, sleep well? I might have walked into your closet thinking it was the bathroom. I got lost in there."

Weiss snorted. "It's the first left past the shoes."

"Which row of shoes?"

"The third one. They're the ones I wear. How long have you been up?"

"Long enough to see you snoring, Princess."

"What?!" Weiss groaned, her own outburst aggravating her headache. "Thank you for getting me the painkillers." She swallowed the pills, hoping they would dissolve quickly in her empty stomach.

"I didn't. That was your butler. Scared the absolute shit out of me when he came in without knocking."

"Sorry. I'll have to remind him that I have a guest. Did you have fun last night?"

Yang pulled the towel around her shoulders for protection. "Yeah, the party was great."

"That doesn't sound sincere. What's up?" Weiss was not entirely pleased with the nonchalant shrug Yang gave her in response, but it would have to do. Yang's mood switched, and Weiss shivered. "Are you ok?"

"Sure."

"Really, because you don't seem it. You left the party early, you were very quiet all night. Is there something wrong, did someone say something to you?"

"No."

"Really? 'Cos you seem so…"

"So, what?"

"Different," Weiss said cautiously.

"Can we not talk about this now?"

Weiss scoffed but let it slide, maybe it was too soon for Yang to talk about it yet. She tiptoed around Yang all day, and barely said a word to her. Weiss had planned a full day of fun, but Yang had her eyes half-closed and gave one word answers to everything, no matter how delicately Weiss phrased her questions. Weiss knew she was not responsible for Yang's sullen mood, but it didn't prevent her feelings being hurt by it. The only time Yang seemed to perk up was around meals.

"Oh, it's nearly lunch time. I wonder what we'll be having. I was expecting your dad to be at breakfast."

"He was already at work. He'll probably be back around eight, if not, then midnight."

"Wow, he works late." Yang was used to her own father's working hours, where he came home to prepare dinner and work around the house before she waltzed in after hanging out with her friends until whatever time she felt like. He also had generous holidays being a school teacher, but she couldn't say that he earned quite as much as Weiss' father.

"He has to. When he's at home, it's not to relax, he still has to work."

"He seemed to be having fun last night."

"That was a party, that's different."

"So, he won't be here for dinner? Do you ever see him at all?"

"Honestly, I prefer it that way." Weiss breathed a sigh of relief when Yang dropped the subject, although now they weren't talking again. Dinner passed without incident, although Yang did crack a smile at Rosa flirting with her waiter all night. Weiss' timid suggestion of something low-energy like a movie in bed, or binge-watching a boxset, was met with little enthusiasm, but at least it was accepted.

Weiss popped the bags in the microwave, and hoped that Yang would be a little bit happier since they were doing something that Yang had picked. Yang had glumly chosen an old martial arts action epic, with a flimsy plot so it would be easy to watch and switch off her brain. Weiss turned to face Yang, but she was standing over on the other side of the large, sterile kitchen and staring out the window. A six cylinder engine took over the noise of the corn popping, the exhaust rumbled from quite a distance, all the way through the double glazed windows.

Yang smiled, the muscle car was bright metallic orange, a convertible (although the top was up), and the body had been lowered, the rims were custom. It was the automobile equivalent of a studded leather jacket, ripped jeans and a mohawk, a defiant middle finger to conformity. Or perhaps a symptom of a full blown mid-life crisis. Either way, it was hella cool.

The microwave pinged, Weiss poured the popcorn into a huge bowl. As they were leaving, Sten was on his way to collect his food from the warm drawer in the oven. Suddenly, Yang had her eyes open.

"Oh, hey, Mr S."

"Good evening, Yang. Please, call me Sten. Weiss." He looked at the bowl, and then to the DVD case in Yang's hands. "I'd stop to chat but I'm in a bit of a rush. Enjoy your film."

"Thanks." Yang fumbled her next few words, and Sten politely waited for her to come out with it. "I like your gym."

A chill ran up Weiss' spine. "Father, just wanted to say, I must compliment you on our gym. It's very well-designed. We had a great training session in there, didn't we, Yang?"

"Well, it's for very serious people only, Weiss. I don't want you messing about in there. You could hurt yourself if you're not careful."

"I won't, I know what I'm doing. I'm much stronger than I used to be."

"Yeah, but you're a bit small. It wasn't designed for you."

"I can cope, can't I, Yang?"

"Yeah, Sten, she's doing great. She doesn't even need me to train her anymore."

"That remains to be seen. I doubt she's that advanced yet." His scroll started ringing. "I'm sorry, I have to take this. Do not use my gym unsupervised, Weiss. Don't let me find you in there playing with things not meant for you," he warned.

Yang watched him go as he pulled out Weiss' guts from the open wound his words had sliced into her. Weiss hid her watery eyes behind thin, trembling fingers. "I hate him. I hate him so much."

Yang put her arm around her, it was the closest they had been all day. "Wow, I didn't know he could be like that. Sorry, Weiss. He acted so different with me."

"That's what everyone says. That he's so nice, he seems like such a good person. But he's not, at least, not to me."

"I'm gonna go talk to him. He shouldn't treat you the way he does."

"No, Yang, no. Definitely do not do that." Yang had already started leaving. "Wait. Oh shit." She cursed at Yang's receding footsteps.

Yang was through the door and marching with heavy determination through the long corridor, before Weiss could stop her. She had turned at least three corners before she realised she had little idea where she was going, or indeed, what part of the house she was in right now. She probably should've taken that tour that Weiss offered when they arrived.

"I can't fucking find anything in this fucking house!"

"Miss Xiao Long, are you lost?"

"Yes!" She gasped, upon turning she realised Sten had been walking behind her for an unknown length of time. She thought he was one of the staff members when he spoke. "No, not anymore, I found you. I was looking for you. I need to talk to you."

He amicably agreed, and took her into one of his offices, even though she didn't actually agree to that. She did not sit down, even when invited. Sten sat in his high-backed reclining chair, with his fingers threaded together in front of him, ready to listen to whatever she had to say.

"I'm here about Weiss." Yang got straight to the point. "Did you ever stop to think that some of the things you say to Weiss might, uh, hurt her feelings?"

"What sort of things do I say?"

"It's sly. You never say outright that you wished she was more like you, but it's pretty obvious what you mean when you say stuff to her. Have you ever tried being straight with her?"

"Weiss is a bit too delicate for tough love. I don't believe that is the way for her to prosper."

"I know you're her father and you know best, I'm not arguing with that. I just want to tell you what I've seen so far, and that is the way you undercut her opinions, her abilities, and her dreams, she doesn't prosper from that either."

"She will eventually, one day she will look back and see everything I've done for her, behind the scenes, in secret. She is my daughter and I've done nothing but love her and give her everything she ever wanted, I made sure she had a better life than I had. I support her in everything she does."

"That's not true, she told us that you hated the idea of her becoming a Huntress."

"I do. I think it's folly. Why do something so ridiculous?" Sten was using his boardroom voice to pass judgement on Weiss' chosen career path.

"It's not a joke though. Being a Huntress is a pretty big deal, to me, as well. It can be pretty deadly. Aren't you even a little bit impressed that she's willing to do that?"

"Impressed? That makes it even more foolish. Why do you think I went to the trouble of hiring the best fencing masters in the world to train her? I wanted to keep her safe from monsters. How is a father supposed to feel when his daughter throws herself willingly into the path of danger? Which, as you rightly say, is often deadly."

"My dad is pretty proud of me and my sister. You could ask him. He doesn't feel the need to be so over-protective, because he knows we can handle ourselves. Weiss can too."

"Can you assure me of that, she'll never be hurt? The scar on her face says otherwise." He laughed ruefully. "I suppose to some it could be considered a noble endeavour, to give one's life for the protection and safety of the people. I served my time in the army, it was during the Great Unrest, when I was in my prime. I fought off Grimm and raiders alike, all the old Mantle villages were being attacked. I saw one of the bandits, he was so close, just about where you're standing now. Those eyes. They'll haunt me forever. I'd saved the lad the week before from Beowolves, and there he was, raiding the next village I was sent to protect. So, you see, I'm also protecting Weiss from having to make a choice like that. I don't want her to be the cause of someone's death."

"Being a Huntress in Vale is completely different to that. Beacon is nothing like the military school you sent Weiss to."

"What did she tell you about that?"

"That you have all these insanely strict rules about how your clothes have to be just so, and you can't sit down until you've been commanded to, so they use standing up as a form of torture. For how advanced Atlas is, I can't believe you still use the cane, like it's last century or something. That's crazy. And abuse."

"I can see how someone who received a softer education, might find our methods a little extreme. But you can't deny its success."

"Hey, school was rough for me too, ok. I was a bit of a troublemaker and the teachers didn't know what to do with me, so they either forced me out of their classroom or left me alone in a corner and ignored me. I was this special case, and that meant no one wanted to try and connect with me because to them, it was pointless. No one understood me."

"That simply means that your education system failed you, whereas in Atlas, we would've found a place for you. We find a suitable place for everyone so everyone does something useful and feels valued. A few years of polishing at one of our academies, a diamond in the rough can be made to shine like a star." He winked ever so slightly. "Weiss was an excellent Cadet, followed procedure to the letter. Did she mention to you that she has a pilot's license? I don't think she likes to talk about her short foray into a military career. I set her up to have everything she would possibly need to succeed. She could've made Brigadier much quicker than her sister can ever hope for."

"I thought you didn't want Weiss to be a warrior? Wanting her to join the army, is quite a contradiction."

"Our great military is all encompassing. There are thousands of jobs that don't require even indirect contact with combat. There would have been no reason for her to be in any more danger than an ordinary citizen such as you or I. She would be a prime candidate to be an envoy, or perhaps a diplomat. I'm sure you've noticed that her tongue is sharper than her sword."

"You can say that again. Uh, I mean, don't you think you're underestimating her quite a lot? I mean, physique-wise, I'd say she's grown quite a lot these last few months. It carries over into fighting, you know, it's not like she's defenseless."

"And yet, here you are, defending her."

"That's different, you're her father."

"Yes, I am. Do you know how many people there are in Remnant who have the gall to do what you've just done?"

"What? No. What have I just done?" Yang shook her head, ignorant and a little bit threatened.

"You actually wanted to pick a fight with me. Sometimes I notice the lengths that people will go to in order to avoid a confrontation with me. It's almost like you don't care who I am."

"No, I don't care who you are because I can still pummel you into the ground if you don't change your attitude towards Weiss."

"Although, if you did that, they would drag you back to jail and no judge on the planet would let you walk away without spending a lifetime in a cell, or more."

"Well, if that's the outcome, I clearly didn't come here to pick a fight with you. I came to persuade you."

"Ok, so persuade me then."

"I'm asking you politely to be nicer to Weiss."

"I am nice. I am as nice to her as I'm going to get."

"I'm just saying you should be doing this because you're her dad. You're supposed to love her, even if she makes it difficult sometimes."

"And you? Do you love her?"

"Yeah, but I haven't had the guts to tell her yet." The answer came to her naturally and she spoke rather hastily. Once the words were out in the open, she couldn't take them back.

Sten did a better job of hiding his surprise than she did at her revelation. He was unabashedly fascinated by Yang, and all her ideas and motives. The first person ever that Weiss brought home openly as a romantic partner, despite her promises that she would rather not subject anyone to the constant stress of living with such machiavellians. When they first met, he took stock of all her outward negative features. She was cocky and brash, her knuckles were hard and enlarged - conditioned for fighting, she never hid her emotions mostly because she was a terrible liar. Her butt had this hypnotic swagger and hugely attractive jiggle when she walked in a certain way that drew a sizeable amount of attention. Turning heads was as easy as breathing for her. Sten tilted his head thoughtfully with a small smirk. Yang gulped, her hands were sweating buckets. Sten seemed to be amused by her nerves.

"You don't care much about money, do you?" His inquisitiveness seemed innocent enough. A lot of people lied about money, how much they had, how much they owed, how much they were willing to part with.

"The things that I want, can't be bought." Yang fought hard to say that without her voice breaking.

Sten studied her carefully. "There's much more to you than meets the eye. I can see why she likes you." He smiled again. "I'm glad you appreciate more than numerical value."

Yang knitted her brow sternly. "And I suppose you do?"

"You don't get to where I am today, without knowing the difference."

"I highly doubt you do. Weiss told me you only care about money and I can see what she means, you haven't said a kind word to her or asked how she is since we got here. You don't treat her like a person, you treat her like a helpless little baby."

Sten rolled his eyes. Yang recognised the action immediately, Weiss did that all the time in exactly the same way. She wondered if Weiss knew that she shared that in common with her father. "You want to know why I protect her, or in your words, seem over-protective? Here."

Sten went over to one of his cabinets and unlocked the door. Yang saw inside, but it was mainly files and boss-looking briefcases. He dropped a tatty cardboard box on the desk in front of Yang. She was intrigued, it looked like an item from her old bedroom back in Patch, a makeshift storage solution for all her crap that she had collected over the years and not thrown away. It was easy for her to recognise it for what it was: a box of memories. What would the Schnees want to keep, but not put on display like the rest of their supposedly fabulous lives? Why did Sten keep it locked in a cupboard?

Yang reached in, first touching papers, and then a ring of plastic. She pulled out a yellowed hospital wristband. It was cut loose after being worn, Yang put the ends together and it barely went around two of her fingers. Whoever had this on their wrist this was proper titchy. She turned it over and didn't know how to feel about the printed label on it: Schnee, Weiss. Age 1. Paediatric Oncology department. Sten seemed reluctant to explain, but she could sense that he had wanted to tell someone for the longest time. The start of Weiss' life was a rocky one, she was born ridiculously premature and doctors weren't sure whether mother and baby were going to make it. Thankfully, they both pulled through, Weiss against all odds, though it was touch and go for a while. Sten got to bring his wife and newborn home with him, and they were allowed happiness for a few months. Then came the diagnosis, and Sten's world came crashing down around his ears.

"What's ALL?"

"Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia."

"Fuck me, she never told me she was a survivor."

Yang blinked, aghast, at every one of the photos that he showed her of a tiny Weiss, resembling a wrinkly jaundiced potato in a onesie more than a human baby, with feeding tubes and life sign monitor wires tangling up her little body like a spider web. For a second she looked at him like he was trying to con her, gain her trust and sympathy by making up stories. She didn't want to believe it, because her heart broke at each new picture. But the wristband, it was the same as the one around the ankle of that poor sick baby. She guessed that the papers in the box must be the medical records that Weiss had no idea existed.

"She doesn't know, she was too young to remember. Thanks to my wife, she was born an addict. Opiates mainly, nothing illegal, but I didn't know until the birth. That's why she's so small, she'll never be as strong as she could be." Sten's fist squeezed, but he placed it flat on the desk and gave Yang a piercing look. He shrank back in shame, sympathy was coming off her in waves, and thick, glassy tears in her eyes were beginning to slide down her cheeks.

When he next spoke, his voice was weak, "we nearly lost her, there were a couple of scares. Cancer is no one's bitch. You can probably imagine why she subconsciously hates hospitals and doctors. She screamed whenever they had to test her bone marrow for traces of cancer cells, I found it hard to stay in the room. Pathetic, I know. I always thought it made me a bad father."

She nearly stumbled backwards. "I'm sorry to hear that. Is she ok now?"

"She got the all clear just before she started kindergarten."

"She doesn't have a clue, not at all?" Yang wondered if Weiss would act differently if she knew. Alcohol, cocaine, pills were not the most serious drugs that Weiss had taken, not compared to being pumped full of chemo. Maybe she should be more careful with her body and more precious with her life. Yang definitely saw Weiss' self-destructive tendencies in a new light, as well as her own. Perhaps it was time for both of them to grow up.

"When are you gonna tell her? She deserves the truth."

Sten shook his head in dismay and gave a tiny shrug. "I meant to tell her years ago, but it was never the right time. That's why I wanted her here, in Atlas, where we have better technology, better doctors to save her, just in case. I have to protect her at all costs, even if it's from herself. I'm not trying to be a dictator, she's just so precious to me, and she doesn't understand why. I know it's my fault, but I can't talk to her now."

"Why did you talk to me about it, now I have to tell her. That's what you wanted, right?"

"I'd prefer if you didn't actually. It's something I'm rather ashamed of. I've never told anyone, hardly anyone knows in the first place. I've never before shared with someone outside the family how I feel about it. How I feel about Weiss. But it was nice to get it off my chest, so thank you."

"Who else knows?"

"Myself, my wife, and Winter. The doctors who treated her, but they have a patient-practitioner confidentiality clause. We kept it from the rest of the family, we're very open but we don't share everything. Whenever we do that, somehow the press always gets involved. That invites unwanted attention from our friends in the White Fang."

"She could find out by herself, what if she sees her medical history?"

"Then she'll find out. It's long overdue. I already deeply regret the pain it's going to cause her."

"I… don't know what to say. This is such a huge part of her life. She's lucky to be alive. Turns out money can't buy health or happiness after all. How do you not think about this every single day of your life?"

He placed the tag back on top of the papers, right in the centre, and folded the cardboard flaps to pack it away. "I put it in a box in my head, and never look inside it. But I'll never forget why I do the things I do, which I why I keep the box. I would've given anything, my entire fortune, to make my child well again. I almost sold my company so I could take care of her and pay for experimental treatment. Do you believe me now, that I do know the difference?"

"Of course. I'd do the same."

He seemed to warm up to that. "You're good as gold. I knew I was right about you."

"Hey, wait. So, you're gonna keep treating Weiss the same way, aren't you?"

"She's my daughter and I'll treat her the way I see fit."

"Right." Yang sighed through her nose, mission failed. "Sorry to bother you, I guess."

"No bother at all, Yang. I very much enjoyed our conversation. I hope to see you at dinner tomorrow, it's one of my favourites." His head bowed over the desk, and he picked out a sheet of paper, and sat back to read it.

"You're going to be at dinner? I thought you didn't eat with your family. They've missed you these past few days."

"I have a lot of work to do, as you can see."

"I know but, you pay people to make a nice dinner and serve it to you. The least you could do is be civil and eat it."

His jaw tightened. Sure, she didn't get what she came for, but she wasn't going to leave with nothing. "A good point. I'll try to be there."

Weiss specifically did not ask how the conversation went, even though she was dying to know. Yang couldn't speak of it, what she had learned. The movie was completely forgotten. The only thing that got Weiss to shut up about it was discussing the evening meal planned for tomorrow, and she began the long procedure of explaining how family dinners were basically a formal event, especially since her father would be in attendance.

Yang was annoyed, but not surprised, by the dress code. She complained of wearing heels, considering they were going to be seated the entire time. Weiss was keen to put Yang in dress after dress, deciding which one accentuated all her curves the best. Yang smiled and twirled when asked, but she was dead inside. It was everything she could do to avoid bursting into tears just by looking Weiss in the face. All she could see was that scrawny little baby, death hanging over her. Weiss had a nice time, brushing invisible dust off Yang's butt because every dress mysteriously had a little something on it.

The sooner they had company, the better. Yang was grateful that the waiters were extra attentive tonight, and were continually intruding on their conversations with offers of more wine or serving the next course.

Sten strode in after the appetiser, and only put his scroll down and acknowledged everyone at the table when his business call was over. He looked at his wife, saw her drunken lack of balance, and turned away. She knew her place, and kept her mouth shut, since anything she said would be ignored with abrasive hostility.

"Ah, Yang, now that I know you train, I'll have the chef give you more appropriate macronutrients ratios."

"Oh no, it's fine. Don't have them go to the trouble just for me."

"Actually, father, I need bigger meals as well, now that I train too. I'm a little heavier than I used to be."

"We give you more food than you need anyway, because you never clean your plate. Always something you don't like." Sten said sternly. Weiss dropped her eyes, and pushed her food around her plate a bit before deciding to eat again. She was the last one to finish, everyone else was sipping wine to keep themselves occupied while they waited.

"Perhaps Yang would be kind enough to share her favourite meal and we can have that on your last night."

Yang stuttered. "I'm sure your chefs can do better than mac and cheese," she said finally.

"It would be no trouble at all. I'm sure they would be delighted to whip something up."

"Thanks. That would be good actually." Not that Yang didn't like the food the chefs cooked; it was a bit fancy, she felt wrong eating exotic dishes she could barely pronounce. Mac and cheese was something she could recognise, although she was sure they would bring out something with their own high-class gastronomic twist.

"So, Yang, you go to the same school as Weiss. The elephant in the room. I'd love to hear your opinion of how well you think the academy is doing."

"I think it's fine." Not that her opinion was exactly valid; if Beacon was so great, she wouldn't be failing so badly. "We did well in the Vytal Tournament."

"Beacon finished the tournament with a better ranking than Atlas, the tournament was won by someone from Beacon." Weiss said, giving some perspective.

"Yes, Pyrrha Nikos, the regional champion from Mistral."

"She still goes to Beacon, you know. It's good enough for her."

"She's not my daughter."

"But, Mr S, she's like the best there is, although you wouldn't know it by talking to her. She could've got a place at any school she wanted, but she chose Beacon."

"Well, I'm glad you proved it has some merit to those whose interests are combat."

Yang scoffed. "It's the best school in the world, I'm proud to go there to learn how to be a Huntress."

"As am I."

"But you're actually a good Huntress, aren't you, Yang?"

A fork dropped loudly on a plate, as Winter turned to Weiss, and Weiss glared at her father, and he passed a gleeful smirk to Yang, who didn't know where to look. She rubbed her sweaty hands together under the table, and said in an unconfident voice, "I wish my professors agreed with you."

"It was only a joke."

Rosa burst out laughing, alone for a while before Sten sniggered at her. Yang smiled robotically to try to bring everyone to the same wavelength, but Weiss and Winter remained stoic.

"You should have more confidence in yourself, Yang. I, for one, think your excellence shines bright like a diamond."

"Thanks but uh, I'm not the only one who could do with a confidence boost. Weiss is good at tests, she always gets top marks. She's the smartest girl in school."

"What's she going to do, wave her good grades at a snarling Grimm and hope they drop dead?"

Yang turned to Weiss who was bright red and looked constipated. "That's not what I meant."

"I know what you meant."

"Is that another joke or…?"

"Sure, a joke. It's all a big joke."

Weiss sprang up, rattling several nearby pieces of crockery. "MY CAREER CHOICE IS NOT A JOKE."

"No one said it was, calm down," Winter said, attempting to defuse the situation. It only proved to make Weiss even more mad, she was sweating out her rage as she slowly sank back into her chair. No Schnee looked at Yang, but she felt their scrutiny all the same. None of this would have happened if Yang hadn't been there. She was supposed to be Team Weiss but she had scored an own goal and felt that she should leave the pitch in shame.

"I should go, uhh, please excuse me." Yang stood up, taking her plate and used cutlery, intending to bring the dirty dishes to the kitchen and giving her a genuine excuse to leave the hall.

Weiss pulled her arms down so that the plate clattered to the table and cracked. "We have people for that."

Yang breathed a frustrated sigh. "I can't- I have to go."

Sten waved a limp wrist. "You're excused."

Weiss stood up to chase Yang, but her solid wood chair got in the way, totally ruining her dramatic exit.

"Sit down, Weiss. The meal isn't over. You are not permitted to leave the table until you've finished your food."

Weiss looked at her plate. There was maybe a mouthful left, stone-cold crumbs she could scrape together from the edges. She held her nose and ate it while her entire family watched. She stood up again. "I wish to be excused."

"Where do you think you are going? There's still the dessert course."

Weiss stayed for not a second longer than she needed to, and held back tears with every bite. Dessert was usually her favourite course, the pastry chefs had really outdone themselves tonight, but the heart-shaped palmiers were not doing the trick. She ignored the wine served alongside, knowing it would make her feel sick. Still chewing the last morsel, she speed-walked up to her room, catching her shoes on the stairs, knocking into things carelessly. Her bedroom door slammed behind her, and the tears were set free. Yang ran to her.

"What happened?"

Weiss sniffled. "Nothing. He was just-" Weiss couldn't stand up any longer.

Yang held her, put her arms tightly around her and let her cry on her shoulder. She shushed her, stroking her hair, sharing the pain with her. She kissed her tears away, and tilted her face towards her.

"Come on, it's ok."

"You don't know that."

"I do. It's gonna be ok, I'm here."

Weiss reached up and gave Yang a salty sweet kiss. Yang's heart had a jumpstart. Her hand dropped down to Weiss' slim waist, and she pressed another kiss on her lips. The chaste kiss went on long enough to make them both breathless. It wasn't often Yang got a chance to show tenderness since her girlfriend was so headstrong and extremely stubborn to boot. But tonight, Weiss needed her, more than anyone. Weiss still had the odd tear leaking from under her closed eyelids. Yang supported Weiss as she tiptoed to be closer. Weiss' tongue made entry, but it failed to rouse Yang to do the same. Yang stiffened as Weiss' hands slid over the curve of her butt.

Yang pulled away. "Could we slow down, and just talk?"

"I don't feel like talking."

Yang shoved away the hands that were around her back, at the zipper of her dress. She caught onto them as Weiss tried to go for it again, and held them tight. Weiss struggled a bit to test her bonds, and found that Yang was being absolutely serious about restraining her. "That turns me on, you know."

Yang sprang backwards and dropped Weiss, like her skin was acidic. She had no intention of looking so appalled that it would shame Weiss, but at least it got her point across. Crestfallen, Weiss bowed her head.

"Yang, what's with you? Why are you holding back?"

"I'm sorry, I must be tired." Yang stifled a yawn.

"No, it's more than that. You're here but you're not all there. The light's on, but no one's home."

"I'm fine. All good."

"Not from where I'm standing. You don't want to talk to me, you don't want to spend time with me. You're always grumpy and I try to suggest things to cheer you up and you never want to do anything! It's like you don't want to touch me, you haven't since you got here. Not properly. I can't stand you like this. Have you forgotten who I am? I'm no angel, and I know you aren't a saint either. I won't break if you want to be dirty with me. I'm not some doll that will shatter if you play with me too hard."

Yang gave a tiny shake of the head, and glanced down, away from Weiss. "It's not that."

"Then what the fuck is wrong with you? I've had it up to here with you lately, I'm sick of it." Yang flinched at the harshness of her tone. "I really didn't think I would have to work so hard to convince you to fuck me."

"Is that all I am to you? Someone to fuck?"

"No."

"Pfft. Sure. You don't think I feel it every night when you fucking touch me, while you think I'm asleep?"

"What?! I'm just cuddling you."

"You're looking to start something, always. Right now, it's a fight."

"I'm not fighting with you."

"Oh wait, I get it. It's about rebellion, you're using me to disobey your father."

"You saw for yourself how he treats me. He seems to like you more than he likes me." She sounded like a petulant child and made it worse with a very immature scoff. "As if you've never used someone before."

"I don't know if you meant it that way, but that hurt a lot. You of all people should know I've changed, tried to be better than that."

Weiss' jaw flapped. "I- Forgive me." She brushed Yang's hair out of her eyes. "You're right. My father-"

"Isn't here in the room with us. So why is he controlling you?"

"He's done some horrible things to me. Tonight wasn't even the start of it. I'm sorry if it's left some marks."

"You think I don't have scars too? Things people have done to me? At least you still have your father. My mother is dead, I'll never see her or hear her voice again. Raven's gone, she's never coming back. You'll never understand what real abandonment feels like."

"You did abandon me! You went to prison for three months, and I only saw you once and heard from you exactly twice. I know you were in jail, but my life was ruined by losing you. Ask Ruby, ask Blake, they'll tell you that I couldn't cope."

"What about me?! 'Coping' in prison. Shit got really real, and you weren't there. Yet again, I was all alone."

"Because of you pushing me away."

"I was angry!"

Weiss gasped. "Well, I just missed you."

"Not enough to come and get me. You could've done it at any time, you should've done it the day I went in there. You could've called your father to get me out and you didn't. What were you waiting for?"

"I…"

"What were you doing? Spent a lot of time in the gym, I can see that."

"No, it wasn't like that. I had my own shit to deal with."

"Seems like you were getting on pretty well without me. Everything was going really well for you, business as normal for you, wasn't it?"

"Yang-"

"Well, wasn't it? Do tell me, 'cos I'd love to know what you were up to."

"Yang…"

"Forget it. I'm done. I'm going to sleep."

Weiss ran into the bathroom the moment Yang turned her back. She turned on the tap, so the rush of the cold water hid the sound of her sniffles. Her father, she was used to his cruelty, but not Yang. That was so much more hurtful than she could ever imagine. She shut off the tap, she had finally run out of tears. She rubbed her tired eyes. Expecting Yang to be in bed, she was humbled to see Yang still up, blowing her nose on a tissue. Her tired eyes met Yang's red, puffy ones.

"I'm sorry," they said. Yang crushed the tissue into a ball and tossed it away. She held her arms out for a hug.

Weiss crawled across the bed, over to Yang's side. "Please don't be mad at me. I didn't mean it like that."

"I'm sorry I lashed out at you. I'm not mad, I promise." This time, Weiss was happy with a cuddle.

Exhausted, Weiss was gone the moment her head hit the soft pillows. Yang blinked slowly, she knew that sleep was not possible for her. She sat up in the dark for a while, listening to the wind whirl around the mountain, re-thinking her entire life. Being here was fast becoming a thorn in her side. She never wanted to come here in the first place. She wanted to go home, or failing that, just leave and get far away from this cold, heartless place.

No wonder Weiss and Rosa drank to escape their problems. They were stuck here even more than Yang. Outside the house, there was nothing. No towns for miles, only a single lane that went on for days by foot. It was frigid as fuck, the wind cut through any number of layers, and the snowblind from a blizzard would ensure Yang losing her way and meeting her demise. Yang doubted she would make it to safety before needing help. Options for a physical escape were extremely limited.

On top of that, even if she managed to make it back to civilisation, a great ocean barred her way home. Weiss held the tickets for their return flight, and it was not like Yang could just conjure up the money to board a last minute crossing by sea or by air. She supposed she could contact someone, like Ruby, for example, but that ran the risk of Ruby contacting Weiss and in that case, Yang would be back to square one and still stuck in this damned house.

She was effectively trapped here, having exchanged one prison for another.