Author's Note: Okay, so before we begin, I just have a point of clarification to make. Firstly, in this AU, there is no Winter Schnee – not so much because I don't like the idea of Weiss having a sister (*cough* Corolla *cough*) but at time of writing, we no next to nothing about Winter, and I don't want to speculate in order to shoehorn in a character who I hadn't intended when I started. Additionally, looking back over this and I'm Not Perfect, I realized that, for most of the writing, I'd been writing under the assumption that Velvet – and by extension Team CVFY – were also first years, which has of course since been proven not to be the case, but in the interest of internal consistency, I am also going to overlook that canonical fact – hopefully you can pardon me for that. That much having been said, I do hope that you enjoy anyway, and doo feel free to let me know what you think!

Four Years After I'm Not Perfect

Glynda Goodwitch of Beacon

"That time of year again…" Glynda Goodwitch sighed heavily as she sifted through the ever-mounting list of requests, notices, and complaints on her scroll, "Best get this over with…"

The Commencement festivities were always chaotic, granted, but it seemed that the little combat exercise two weeks previously had proven itself to be just the tip of the iceberg this year. The displays alone were enough of a headache; Teams SPHR and DMND were selling Dust-imbued jewelry – which would seem innocuous enough in itself, if it weren't for the fact that they had unintentionally detonated several 'prototypes' and thus demolished Team SPHR's dorm – and Teams CHRY, VNLA, and CRML were opening a 'mobile' ice cream parlor for the weekend…

"Hopefully there won't be too much damage…"

"Rest easy Glynda," the Headmaster's voice sounded from behind the somewhat exasperated professor, "Much as is made of the 'purpose' of these festivities, first and foremost it is meant for the students to unwind at the conclusion of their four years of diligent study before they take that first step out into true responsibility; let their whimsy pass – and perhaps indulge yourself a bit as well for once, no?"

Glynda turned to the headmaster, standing just behind her and off to the side of where she was observing the festivities and various booths in the courtyard, cane in one hand and ubiquitous coffee mug in the other, "And who then would prevent anarchy around here?" the words were barbed, but her tone of voice betrayed amusement, "I've never been one for things of this nature in any event,"

"You really ought to try it sometime Glynda," Ozpin rejoined, "While it is true that moderation is important, that particular platitude works both ways; one cannot live solely for work,"

"No, but one must work to live," Glynda shot back, swiftly pressing a few icons on her scroll which enjoined Dr. Oobleck to investigate a disturbance that had been reported in the East wing – it was probably nothing more than a handful of fourth years a little too into the festivities, but it was best to be sure, "and at any rate, I do enjoy a challenge…"

The Headmaster of Beacon Academy chuckled, "Well fair enough…" he took a sip from his coffee as one of several Dust-powered mobile ice-cream counters sped past and Glynda winced, "Indeed…"

Glynda sighed, making a note on her scroll to have a word with one Violet Blumenthal of Team VNLA about reckless driving, "Now if you'll excuse me sir, I have order to maintain…"

"Actually Glynda…"

"Hmmm?"

"Abel Schnee will be arriving shortly to attend the performance put on by his daughter and her friends…"

The bespectacled blonde shot Ozpin a raised eyebrow, "Really? Well… interesting as that is sir-,"

"A certain lieutenant from the Vale Police Department by the name of Halden Mädchen will also be attending with his wife and daughter… If at all possible, I would like you to endeavor to ensure that Misters Schnee and Mädchen need not meet, yes?"

Glynda's brow furrowed at this request and returned her gaze to her scroll, where she keyed up the records for what visitors had entered the campus in admission to the festival, scanning until she found the name of Mädchen. She did not recognize Lieutenant Halden Mädchen, but his wife… "Oh Dear…"

Ozpin nodded, "I do not anticipate a problem, but you of all people appreciate that old saying about an ounce of prevention…"

Glynda nodded, "I'll… see what I can do…"

Ozpin nodded in turn, sipping his coffee again, "Very well… I'll leave you to it then…" and with that, the Headmaster started off toward the ballroom and presumably the mixer being held there.

"Abel Schnee…" Glynda's expression set itself in a line. She'd first met the man all that time ago when she'd attended Beacon, but he'd been a very different man then than he'd since become. Then, he'd been reserved, but generally polite and well-meaning. She'd even attended his wedding – to the woman who now went by Mrs. Mädchen… She didn't need to know the circumstances of his divorce, but given all that the Schnee family had done and been through since Abel's father had passed, she could take an educated guess. It did explain a fair bit about Weiss Schnee though… Abel Schnee had always 'lived to work' as Ozpin described it, but based on the few times Glynda had met the man since their graduation, it seemed as though at some point in the intervening time, Abel Schnee had forgotten how to live for anything else. Growing up with that as her role model certainly did indeed explain a great deal about the man's daughter.

Glynda cringed at the thought, "This is going to be a long day…"

Weiss Schnee the Big Sister

Weiss heaved a sigh; two weeks had not been nearly enough time to prepare a production on this scale, even if they had gone with a previously existing script. The costumes were simple, the stage had been crude – if sturdy – and the lot of them were sorely deficient in rehearsal time to perform Blake's opus. Weiss had given the best direction she could, but she cringed just thinking about how stilted almost all of the lines had come out most of the time – well, except for Nora – massive ham that she was. What made all of this worse was that the amphitheater for the first performance was packed, which of course meant more people to revel in their miserable failure, although perhaps that was not being entirely fair; they received a standing ovation when the sixteen of them took their bows, so maybe Weiss was just being overly critical.

Just a bit… She allowed, Wouldn't be the first time…

RWBY, JNPR, CVFY, and CRDL were slated for one performance for each of the three days of the festival, but apart from their 1-4 PM performances Friday and Saturday, and the 6-9 performance closing night, they were pretty much free to move about and enjoy the weekend. It was a nice change of pace, Weiss supposed; while they'd ostensibly been free of any sort of classes for the past two weeks, the mad scramble to put a halfway decent play together had easily consumed most of her time, so now was really her first of precious few hours of free time. Lamentably though, she found herself at a loss for how best to enjoy them. Ruby and Yang were preoccupied showing their father around, as were Jaune and Pyrrha similarly tied up introducing each other to their families, whom in Pyrrha's case had come a very long way to meet Jaune. To her knowledge though, Weiss herself simply had the better part of three days' worth of free time.

Idly she walked along the campus, buying a cup of coffee at one of the less ambitios stalls here, or indulging in a little childish fancy by buying a snow cone from Team CHRY's preposterous mobile ice cream counter there, but all told she was just listing about with no particular purpose in mind. That was well enough, she supposed – the last four years had been spent in preparation of one sole purpose anyway, so indulging a little fancy now seemed earned, if not perhaps necessary. Ironically though, the little liberties felt forced in their purposelessness, and she could not help waxing contemplative as she went.

It was strange to think that this – the festival, the school, the students, all of it – was going to be her responsibility, even if only at some length of time. She had always respected Professor Goodwitch of course, but it was only now that she'd really given herself the time to think on the sheer weight of the duty which she had agreed to inherit, over and above that of the Schnee family name and legacy. She'd been confident when she had accepted the offer in Goodwitch's office, and she did not regret having done so now, but it would not have been entirely truthful for her to have said that she knew how she would carry all of that responsibility. Somehow though, it did not worry her too much, though that was not to say that the pressure felt distant; she was more acutely aware now, despite – or rather because – of the general state of merriment which couldn't last forever that sooner rather than later, she was going to have to step up and fill the role.

"And why not? It's what you've spent most of your life doing," She mused to herself without bitterness; it was a simple truth really, and while that role had been more flexible than simply 'the model Schnee' over the past few years, it still represented expectations to be met and surpassed, and damned if she didn't pride herself on doing just that, "I can – will – do this,"

Indeed it was more the general listlessness of her present that vexed Weiss more than the burdens of her future; steep though the struggles promised to be, they were defined; right now though… She wasn't quite sure what to do with herself.

Letting out a sigh, Weiss closed her eyes and craned her head back to stare up at the sky from where she was seated on a bench, "And now we wait…"

"Corolla! Corolla come back! Watch where you're going!"

Huh...?Must've dozed and-, Weiss's eyes shot open as a heavy weight suddenly slammed into her stomach, "Gah! What the-?"

"Corolla! Apologize!"

"S-sorry lady…"

Weiss blinked the drowsiness from her eyes as she sat up, correcting her posture to find a little blonde girl with a dandelion barrette holding her bangs out of her face performing a comically exaggerated bow by way of apology before darting away to hide behind her mother, Am I really that frightening? At a second look though, Weiss Schnee's hart very nearly stopped, Oh my God, that's…

Abruptly Weiss got to her feet, briefly dusting herself off and putting on her best professionally fake smile and extending a hand to little Corolla, "Oh, it's alright; no harm done. I probably shouldn't have been dozing anyway…"

The little girl of about seven or eight giggled, but nonetheless looked up at her mother first for assurance before gingerly accepting the handshake, "Sorry… I lost my flower…"

Weiss blinked at this peculiar response, until the little girl held up a toy shaped like a camellia blossom with tiny frost and burn Dust crystals at the center, "Ah… so I see you went by Team PETL's toy stand…" Weiss smiled, gently taking the artificial flower, "These things are actually pretty clever – you see, they work on convection, so if you channel just a tiny bit of Aura through the Burn crystal, it creates a thermal updraft and…" Weiss trailed off upon seeing the blank look on the first-grader's face, "…It flies if you can make the red crystal glow…"

With that, Weiss held the flower in the palm of one hand and channeled her Aura to demonstrate. Normally she'd condemn the concept of giving Dust to children, but the dulled, lackluster quality to the crystal's red hue marked it as mostly spent, so it was utterly harmless. As the flower began to spin like a pinwheel and began to rise off of her open palm, little Corolla's eyes lit up in amassment as the white flower levitated, "Like this," Weiss said, cutting off the minute trickle of Aura and letting the toy flutter back down onto her hand, "Now you try; just concentrate on the red crystal, okay?"

Corolla nodded emphatically as she took the flower-shaped toy back sat on the bench to try it for herself, leaving Weiss to look across to her mother, "Hello… Mrs. Mädchen…"

"Hello Weis…"

"I wasn't expecting to see you here… what with…" Weiss sighed, "Is Halden…?"

Weiss's mother shook her head, "Yes, but not here; he ran into some old friends among the other parents…"

Weiss sighed again, with relief this time, "In that case, I'm happy to see you – although don't you think this is a little…" She gestured Corolla's way, who was presently concentrating intently on the toy flower trying to make it fly again, but thus far only succeeding in causing it to wobble, "risky? She's getting old enough to understand what's going on if you're not careful…"

Her mother smiled, "Don't worry yourself so much about that; Corolla actually asked to come before I got the chance to suggest it. She's serious about being a Huntress – just like you,"

"Just like Angela Snow," Weiss corrected, "I hope she wasn't hoping to meet her…"

"I told her that Angela was too busy…"

The irony… The one time in four years when I'm not busy… Weiss shook her head, dismissing the thought, "Well I suppose that works… If she asks, you can go ahead and tell her she met Weiss Schnee today then…"

"You could introduce yourself as Angela if you prefer, Weiss…" Her mother smiled sadly.

Weiss shook her head, "No; Angela Snow is not going to be her teacher if she makes it as far as Beacon…"

"Teacher…" Mrs. Mädchen took a moment to process it before pulling Weiss into a brief hug and congratulating her, "So you are going to work here instead of-,"

"Alongside," Weiss corrected again, more firmly this time, "I have a duty to the family too, Mother,"

The older woman, who to most anyone else appeared as though a perplexingly interested complete stranger, sighed, "That seems a bit much Dear…"

Weiss shook her head, "Father always said that it was good to keep busy,"

"That's what worries me…" the former Mrs. Schnee looked away, "You do know that attitude destroyed our marriage-,"

Weiss felt a little pang of anger well up inside her briefly, but she controlled it, and responded calmly and quietly, "Mother, we will not discuss that; I am not married, and the divorce was as much your doing as his,"

"I… I know…" Weiss's mother looked away, but seeing Corolla she turned back to Weiss, "I just don't want to see you do to yourself what your Father did…"

"I won't have responsibility for the whole of the company right away – and besides, I wouldn't know what to do with any free time anyway…"

"I don't know about that," Weiss's mother smiled, "you seemed to make good use of the past two weeks,"

"Weiss's eyes widened just a bit, more from embarrassment than anything else, "You… saw the play…"

Mrs. Mädchen chuckled, "Yes, and it was a sweet little show…"

"The performances were wooden and amateurish, you mean,"

"No, I mean sweet," the older woman shook her head, "It's just a pity that you couldn't be on stage…"

"Then who would direct?" Weiss's slight smile returned, "Someone has to, and it wasn't going to be the star…"

"Ooh! Ooh! I got it! I did it!" Both grown women turned to behold the spectacle of the excited little girl finally making the flower-shaped toy take to the air. She was practically bouncing in her seat on the bench, smiling brightly as the little spinning white flower levitated up past her face, "It's flying!"

"Well look at that… She did it…" Weiss smiled, "It looks like she really does have some potential…"

Weiss's mother gave her an affectionate squeeze on the shoulder, "She really does want to be just like you, Angela Snow… Please…when she gets here… Look out for her…"

"I will," Weiss nodded, "Although…" she added as Corolla got up from the bench and tore off across the courtyard chasing her flying toy, which had been swept away on a breeze, "For now, you might want to go look out for her…"

Mrs. Mädchen nodded with a sigh, "I do… It's… been nice to see you Weiss…"

"You too Mom," And with a quick hug, mother parted from daughter and made to follow the child trying to catch her toy. "Hope to see you soon…" it was a quiet, private addition, meant only for herself, though it did not stay that way.

"Angela Snow, hmmm?"

Weiss turned with a start to find a figure she'd recognize anywhere, what with the cane and the double-breasted white jacket, waiting with the same stern look as when last she'd seen him, both hands resting atop his cane, "…Father? I… I wasn't expecting you-,"

"No, I would say that much is fairly self-evident," He interrupted, "As indeed neither of us were expecting your mother or her… child…"

"Father, please don't make this about her-,"

"I did not come here to waste my time, Weiss," He interrupted again, though his expression softened somewhat, "I came to see that your education had come to a satisfactory conclusion,"

Weiss didn't need to ask, "You saw the play…"

"Passable," Abel Schnee confirmed, "For amateurs on two weeks' notice. Still, well done,"

Weiss blinked, "Well done? I… thank you-,"

"Now if we may, to business…"

Weiss felt a cold weight in the pit of her stomach; Abel Schnee probably was not going to like what his daughter had to say about her career decisions, "Yes Father…"

"Good," The Chairman of the Schnee Dust Company nodded, "I trust that you have been attending to your business studies in your time here?"

"Separately, but yes…" Weiss nodded, not volunteering anything further.

"Good," He nodded again, "Because , upon your graduation, I expect you to take a position in the company,"

Weiss nodded, "Yes sir…"

"You will be working here in Vale," He continued, much to Weiss's surprise, "Professor Goodwitch has informed me of your decision to teach here, as well as your responsibilities to the company,"

"Father, I-,"

"I should expect nothing less," He pressed on, to Weiss's even greater surprise, "Although I expect you not to compromise either responsibility for the other; do I make myself clear?"

'Yes sir…"

"Is that a question or an answer, Weiss?"

"Yes Sir,"

Abel nodded, "Good." He paused for thought, "It has been arranged that your team's first independent field assignment will be a search-and-destroy sweep of the northeast quadrant of the Forest of Forever Fall. Why?"

Abel Schnee knew the answer, of that much, Weiss was certain; this was a test, "Quarry site 173. I take it that we will be assigned to make our base of operations there?" Weiss asked. It did not at all surprise her that her father knew these things – he probably had something to do with it.

"So you shall," He nodded, "When you get there, I want you to pay very close attention to what you see there. Site 173 will be the center of your responsibilities to the company going forward; its security is of the utmost importance Weiss, this much I cannot stress to you enough."

Weiss furrowed her brow, for the first time turning to actually look at him as everyone else on the campus went on with their carefree time, "Four Huntresses for extra security? Isn't that excessive – even discounting the standing security forces…"

"You will understand when you get there," He shook his head, "I have already ceased mining operations at the site, but until such time as a solution for the problem can be enacted, security must be maintained."

"Alright…" Weiss nodded slowly, eyes narrowed, "But what is this about?"

"I am certain that you remember the siege of the city three years ago," It wasn't a question, "I'll have no repeat of that whilst I chair the Schnee Dust Company,"