Though the midday sun shined overhead, its heat was lukewarm at best. Icicles dripped at such a rate that it sounded like light rain was making its way through Atlas. A chill ran down Ruby's back as a water drop from an archway landed on her neck.

Knocking on a door had never been so difficult to Ruby. She thought this would be something she wouldn't hesitate to do, but she felt her stomach turning and her hands trembling. It must have been the excitement, she figured.

After finally mustering the courage to press a doorbell, Ruby was greeted by a servant within the minute.

"And who may you be?" The servant asked.

The response had been mentally rehearsed. "My name is Ruby Rose. I was Weiss's partner back at Beacon. I'd like to say hi to her."

The servant gave Ruby a quick once-over and promptly pressed a button on the intercom. "Miss Weiss, you have a guest. Someone by the name of Ruby Rose."

Ruby could hear the clacking of Weiss's heels, and how they quickly sped up in their rhythm. A blush crept across her face as her excitement grew. When Weiss turned the corner, Ruby was stunned.

Weiss looked… incredible. She held herself with a different bearing than before. She was graceful, poised, mature, nothing like the bratty-yet-kind-hearted teenager that Ruby knew. It had only been six months, but Weiss looked like she had aged three years. She truly carried herself as if she was ready to run a company.

Of course, all that changed as soon as the two made eye contact for the first time in half a year.

Ruby suddenly found herself embraced in the tightest hug Weiss had ever given her. She returned the favor, resting her chin on her partner's shoulder.

"I missed you so much," Weiss practically whispered.

Ruby caught a whiff of coffee and perfume. It had been months since she last encountered that unique smell; the same one Weiss had when she muttered something to Ruby in class, or whenever they shared a textbook with each other. Ruby seldom noticed it during those peaceful times, but now, it felt no different than the smell of flowering trees on Patch. It felt like home.

The two began to separate, holding each other at arm's length. When Ruby threatened to let go, she was pulled in again. Ruby only caught a glimpse of Weiss's face before returning the second hug, and her reddened cheeks and furrowed brow told a clear story: the past few months had been unbearably lonely for her.

After finally pulling apart, Weiss led Ruby to her bedroom.

"Everything is very… blue and white," Ruby mused.

Weiss gave a rare laugh. "You get used to it after a while."

A butler brought in snacks as Ruby and Weiss began discussing the past months.

There were many stories to be told from Ruby's side of the table. She spoke of her adventures with Jaune, Ren, and Nora; and of how much all four of them had grown. Ruby's supply of tales seemed to be endless: an encounter with a golem Grimm, Jaune getting his new armor, forests with lightning bugs that lit up the night, she could have gone on for hours. "How about you, Weiss?"

Weiss had barely gotten a word in for the past thirty minutes. "Oh, it's been… kind of boring, I guess. Just same old family life…"

"Well, what's that like?"

Weiss hesitated; with silence finally finding its place in their conversation, the faint sounds of an argument could be heard from down the hall.

"It's…" Weiss absentmindedly fixed her bangs.

Ruby pieced things together quickly. "Oh…"

"It's not all too bad, though. I have my brother and—"

"You have a brother?!"

"Yes! I have a brother. His name is Whitley."

Ruby scratched her head. "You… never mentioned you had a brother. In fact, you never really talk about your family much at all. I thought it was just you and your older sister."

"Have I ever told you about my butler? His name is Klein."

"No, you never talked about him, either."

Weiss looked just a touch guilty. "Oh, well, I think I hear his footsteps now."

Instead of bringing in another plate of snacks, Klein entered the room with a brisk walk and a jubilant grin. "Ms. Weiss," he said, "There's someone here to see you."

He stepped aside to reveal a strapping young woman – tanned, with dark hair, easily approaching six feet tall – wearing an Atlesian Army dress uniform.

Weiss sprung up from her seat. "Lieutenant Duvall!" Before she even finished her sentence, she had already hugged the soldier. "It's so nice to see you!"

After taking a moment to exchange pleasantries, Weiss turned to face Ruby. "This is one of my sister's lieutenants, Lali Duvall."

The lieutenant held out her hand, and Ruby shook it, slightly nervous to be in the presence of an army officer. "I-it's an honor to meet you, Lieutenant Duvall, ma'am!"

Duvall snickered. "You teach her that, Little Schnee?"

"She's met my sister before," Weiss replied. "She made it pretty clear she had never met a soldier."

Ruby spoke up. "But I know how to greet them now! I think…" She gave a small laugh before mumbling reminders to herself that she tried her best.

Duvall reached into her jacket pocket. "Now that we're past greetings—" A pack of cards was suddenly thrown onto the table. "—how about a game?"

"Of what? Poker? I don't know how to play."

Weiss playfully pat Ruby on the back. "We'll teach you! She's the master, and I learned from the best, of course! Hope you're okay with losing."

It's never easy to keep up when you're a novice playing against experts, but Ruby was finding it especially difficult to focus. Questions raced through her mind. How come Weiss never told her about her sister's military friends? Or her sister, for that matter –?

"Three-of-a-kind."

-What is it about Weiss's family life that made her keep it so private? She seemed to have plenty of pleasant memories about this soldier. Why not—

"Full house."

"Hey, not bad…"

- share them with her teammates? How long has she known Winter's troops for? A long time, probably, like a few years at least, maybe more—

"I can't match it."

"Aww."

-Like, maybe since she was a little kid. Come to think of it, it seems like Weiss is pretty attached to her sister, so why doesn't she communicate with her more? She's busy, obviously. She's a military officer. But wouldn't she find some time to say hi to her family? Unless, of course, she's being kept away from Weiss—

"Ruby?"

Oh.

Ruby snapped her head up.

"Ruby, are you going to play, or just watch?"

To the tune of a shuffling deck, Ruby rearranged her hand.

After the game hit its end (in which Ruby had lost all her decorative glass pebbles), Ruby didn't find much more time for thinking, as Duvall soon drew her attention.

"Hey, so, I've got O'Day scheduled to pick me up sometime soon, but after that, nothing for a day or so. Is there anywhere you two want to go?"

Ruby and Weiss looked at each other. After Ruby mouthed the name of their runaway teammate, Weiss nodded.

"Vacuo," the two girls said, almost simultaneously. Weiss tacked on a "please."

"Vacuo?! That's a seven-hour flight!"

"I know," Weiss said. "I'm asking you to drive us to the airfield. I'm sure one of my family's personal ships are there."

Duvall let out a puff of air. "Alright, fine. Airfield it is."

The car ride never had a dull moment. Duvall was behind the wheel, and O'Day was constantly turning to Ruby and Weiss and wildly gesturing his way through some story. He was notably young – likely not two years older than Weiss. Freckles dotted his smooth complexion, and his uniform looked like it was fitted to allow him some room to grow.

Weiss was intently listening to his stories with a constant, genuine grin on her face.

"I'm telling ya, so Yavor is there, literally stuck on fence, hanging from his backpack, and this giant-ass bird, like, size of microwave or somethin' – it lands on his head. I'm there dying of laughter, and the drill sergeant is yelling his top off, but the best part is that the drill sergeant is a good twenty feet away from Yavor because he's terrified of birds."

Ruby and Weiss responded with laughter and many a cry of "no way!" O'Day had a talent for storytelling, and he was never afraid to show it off. He had the gift of delivery, and that countryside-Atlas accent made it even better for some reason.

After the stories and laughter subsided, Weiss asked about the goings-on of the battalion.

"Well," O'Day started, "after this, we're going back to the base, and then, ah, it's going to be a while before we see you again."

Weiss groaned in response. "Another deployment?" she whined, "You guys just got back from your last one five months ago!"

Duvall cut in. "Yeah, yeah, I know… I'm not crazy about it, either, but orders are orders, y'know? Extra help is needed down where Beacon used to be."

"I guess…"

"I'm sorry, Little Corporal Schnee. Winter said she'd call you as soon as the mission was over."

Ruby leaned back in her seat. Little Corporal Schnee? What was that about?

"Hey, Little Schnee!" A sergeant cried out.

Winter let go of her little sister's hand and let her run off to say hello to the platoon. A corporal picked her up and put his cap on her head. It was several sizes too large, and it flopped down over her eyes. The 9-year-old Weiss cheerfully giggled.

Winter loved to bring her sister to the base when she could. It boosted morale, and the platoon adored her. Weiss adored them back.

"Hi, Corporal Renick!" she chirped.

"I told you, you can just call me Sunil, okay?"

"Okay, Sunil!"

Weiss was handed over to a staff sergeant as Corporal Renick held up a finger towards Winter.

He left for a moment, and returned with a neatly-wrapped box.

Wriggling in the staff sergeant's arms, Weiss squealed in delight. "You remembered her birthday!" Winter exclaimed, incredibly touched.

"Of course we did. You said it was this week. So, we all chipped in to make her something special."

Weiss was set down so she could open her gift. She stared in awe as she looked inside. "My own uniform!"

Sure enough, she was holding up a child-sized military uniform, complete with a nametag and rank. Not a minute passed before she was off to a bathroom so she could change. She reemerged standing tall and proud, her chest puffed out and her right arm saluting. "Private Schnee, ready for battle!"

One could practically hear all the hearts melting at once. A young soldier couldn't help but give the child a hug.

Winter laughed. "Private Duvall, I think you can let go now."

"But she's so cute! She looks just like a mini-you!"

"Heh… she does, doesn't she?"

The years passed, and Weiss soon outgrew out of her tiny uniform. She was memorably upset when she feared she couldn't wear it to the base anymore. To quell her worries, she was given a new one for her eleventh birthday, along with a new rank. Mock ceremonies were performed by the platoon when Weiss was "promoted." When she was eleven, they bumped her up to Private First Class; when she was thirteen, it was Corporal.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Little Corporal Weiss Schnee"

Sunlight glinted off the windshield of a small airship. Pale-blue in color, Schnee family emblem decorating the side, 'C-103' written near the nose. "This is the one," Weiss remarked. She took a few steps onto the entrance ramp before saluting a flight officer. "Permission to come aboard, sir?"

The officer laughed. This airship belonged to her, as far as he knew, but he had no reason to argue with formalities. "Permission granted."

Weiss walked onto the ship with Ruby, attempting with little success to mimic her poise, tailing her. The cabin of the private airship was pleasantly cool, and refreshments had already been laid out on a table underneath a television. There were worse ways to spend a seven-hour flight.

Before anyone settled down, there were more important matters to get to. Weiss pulled up several maps of Vacuo, and Ruby studied each one.

"Maybe if we head to the eastern port towns? I mean, Blake probably made it by boat, right?"

"That's true."

Soon enough, the engines roared to life. As the world slowly passed by the windows, Weiss pressed her face up to the glass. An all-too-familiar airship caught her attention, and she followed it with her eyes until it slipped out of sight. The last time she was on that airship was... five, six years ago? She couldn't believe it had already been that long. As best she could, Weiss shook the memory from her mind.

"Good morning, Private Espinosa," Weiss said in a professional tone. One leg was raised just the slightest, no doubt a subconscious position to ease the ache of a growing pain in her shin. She had really shot up over the past few months, the soldiers had noticed. It was almost time to start investing in a new uniform for her.

"Woah, Little Private Schnee," Private Espinosa said, her striking blue eyes lighting up. "Are you…? You are! You're my height now!"

Sergeant Renick went over to them. "You still got a ways to go before reaching my height, though," he laughed. Weiss turned to look at him, and despite all her growing, her head only reached his chest when she went to hug him.

Private Espinosa had gone off to find Winter. When she returned with her commander, she demonstrated that there was a new shortest member of the platoon. Winter gave her little sister a loving smile. She was growing up so beautifully.

Weiss noticed, however, that Winter's smile held a hint of sadness in it. "Winter, is something wrong?"

"Weiss, as you may have heard, I'm going to be promoted to Captain in a couple months."

"Yeah, I heard! I'm excited for you."

"Thank you, but…" She sighed. "After my promotion, the battalion is going to be deployed to assist with the battle in Vale."

Weiss's brow furrowed and her arms tensed. "But that can't be! The 258th was never meant to go to the front lines!"

"I know, Weiss." Winter couldn't bring herself to meet her sister's eye. "But I can't argue with orders. I'm sorry."

Weiss's shoulders relaxed as she regained her composure. "…How long are you going to be gone?"

"Fifteen months." Winter's voice nearly broke.

"Fifteen?! I won't see you for over a year? But that's not fa-"

"I'm so sorry, Weiss."

Espinosa cut in. "Hey, don't worry, Little Schnee. Afterwards, we're not going anywhere for at least another two years. Promise!"

Wishful thinking.