Chapter I

There's no place like Home, for the Holidays.

"For that absolute last time Yang, I am perfectly fine with staying on campus for the break." The blonde in question stared at Blake with eyes that were a cross between a mother hen's concerned stare and her little sisters patented pleading puppy dog eyes.

Well no question as the where Ruby got that from now Blake thought as she rolled her eyes and gave a small huff of frustration. She should have kept her mouth shut when the rest of her team had asked her what her plans were for the holiday break and avoided all this trouble. A week ago the group had been taking a rare break from studying for their final exams to have a little "Team building conversation" as Ruby called them, or as Yang perhaps more aptly put, "Girl time." Yang and Ruby were going home to their uncle and father. Ruby hadn't stopped going on and on dreamily about the excellence that apparently was her father's apple pie and homemade strudel. Apparently it truly was a experience not to be missed if Yang's drooling face had been anything to go by.

Weiss was heading home, back to the life of luxury that she had spent most of her life in. She didn't seem very happy about the venture, however. After the incident at the docks, which Blake was surprised to realize had occurred only two weeks ago, Weiss had opened up a small amount to her teammates about her personal life at home in Atlas.

From what Blake could understand, Weiss's home was the absolute last place she wanted to be. Unfortunately, her father had requested that she be there. The heiress needed to fulfill her position as the future owner of the Schnee Corporation by making some appointed appearances at the many holiday parties her family held for their associates, and when her father requested something it was meant to be taken as an order.

It should have struck Blake as no surprise when all eyes in the room turned to her, causing her to shrink behind the thick tome she had been indulging herself in as she pretended not to listen to their discussion. Obviously she wasn't going home. She had run away from her family, run away from the White Fang for the chance for a fresh start. Blake had thought that such a thing could be left assumed and unsaid but it would seem she had been wrong. As such when they had initially reacted with shock to her plans to remain on campus, Blake could do nothing but look like a deer in the proverbial headlights.

Now the following three weeks had resulted in her partner harassing her at every possible turn. Insisting that she was more than welcome to return home with Yang and Ruby, spending the holidays with their family. And while the offer was tempting, Blake wasn't ready to interact with so many new people. Though she had come to trust, even love, her teammates, the same trust didn't quite reach to their families.

Blake even trusted the members of team JNPR more than she thought she ever would. All of them treating the discovery of Blake's Faunus heritage as no big deal. Nora had asked to touch her ears, to which Blake had flinched away, but she knew that the Valkyrie didn't really mean any harm by the statement. In truth, Ruby had asked the same thing initially.

C'moooon," Yang whined her face still in that concerned/pleading limbo. "Uncle Qrow and Dad would love to have you! The more the merrier!" Blake sighed, her frustration starting to mount. Though she couldn't really blame the blonde. It seemed to be in her nature to fuss over the entire team, even Weiss who had long since given up trying to deter the determined blonde. Blake normally didn't mind the attention, secretly it felt nice to have someone care so much despite knowing her troubled past, however, she wasn't going to be pressured on this point.

"Yang, my answer hasn't changed since the first time you asked, and stop giving me that look. Ruby does it better anyway and I said no to her as well if you care to remember." Yang sighed, standing up straight and stretching her back with her arm scratching at the back of her head as she spoke. Her tone conveying her own frustration and exasperation.

"I just don't get why you want to stay here all by yourself for over a month and a half! I mean, after finals I would have thought for sure that you would love to jump on the first opportunity for escape." Blake rolled her eyes and placed the book she had been reading, A History of the Origins of Solstice Traditions, down on the nightstand, making sure to memorize the page number before allowing it to close.

"Don't you think you're being a tad bit overdramatic? Plenty of students stay at Beacon during the holidays, some even take extra classes. In fact, I was even considering taking a philosophy course that Professor Goodwitch is offering. " Blake neglected to mention that she had also signed up to participate in Professor Ports class regarding Modern Vale holiday traditions, but that was more because she knew how Yang despised that professor above any of the others.

Yang gave her an extreme look of mock horror and surprise. When she opened her mouth to retort it was with a high pitch and over the top accent that Blake barely recognized as a mangled version of Vaccuo and what Blake thought was Mistral but she honestly couldn't be sure.

"Why I never, Blake Belladonna, Me? Overdramatic, pah, perish the thought!" Blake allowed a small giggle to escape her lips as she gave the silly blonde a playful shove. A gentle warmth glowing within her at the small interaction. Before she came to Beacon she never really had anyone that she could, for lack of a better term, 'Pal around with'. She found that the feeling, although foreign to her, was not unwelcome.

Yang beamed back for a moment before giving Blake a pointed look. "Fine, fine, you win. But come on, it's called winter break for a reason. You know, because it's a break? Try not to waste it taking extra classes." Yang made a face as though even the thought of extracurricular classes was too much to bear. Blake shook her head at her partner's antics and stood and began leading the blonde towards the door.

"Go on, get out of here. I know your family is probably dying to hear about your first semester and Ruby is probably driving Weiss insane on the dock while she waits for her private shuttle."

As if on cue a loud shriek echoed throughout the cool winter morning. So loud that it could be heard through the closed windows of the dorm room. A shriek that could only belong to one Weiss Schnee. Yang shot straight up, all humor and almost all color leaving her face as she quickly grabbed her duffel bag, gave Blake a quick one armed hug, and took off into the hallway calling out behind her as she disappeared around the corner.

"Bye Blake! I'll miss ya, see you in a few weeks, and have fun and happy holidays!"

Blake smiled to herself as she watched her friend go. She was surprised to find that she would miss the over excitable blonde as well. She would miss Ruby with all her enthusiasm and bright eyed sincerity. Blake would even miss Weiss with her no nonsense attitude and awkward attempts at humor that were funny just for their attempt.

This thought caused her to chuckle lightly as she turned back into the room, closing the door behind her before she made her way back to her bed and the tome that seemed to call out her name. Never once had she thought that she would ever have a pleasant thought regarding a Schnee.

Then again she never thought she would ever have friends who would accept her for who she was either, yet here she was. As she sat, cuddled up in her blankets against her headboard and the huge tome open once more across her propped up knees, she found herself more at peace then she had allowed herself to be in a long time. With a small smile she began to read, wildling away the time until dinner in joyful silence.

Pyrrha

"So um, why aren't you going home to Mistral again?" The bright bubbly voice of Nora Valkyrie asked as she bounced in place on the foot of Pyrrha's bed. Pyrrha gave her a small smile as she continued to help Nora pack by folding Nora's laundry and place it in the large, pink-poka dotted suitcase.

"Well in reality its not that big of a deal." She began, glancing up at the energy filled girl as she went about folding another pair of Nora's pants and placing them in the case. "My family isn't the wealthiest and though we have enough to get by a ticket to Mistral and back costs far more lien than I'm willing to let them spend. The trip alone is three days by airship and car. Three days there and three days back. In the end at would give me just under a month to spend with them before I would have to return. "

Pyrrha paused and motioned to Nora to sit atop the suitcase and hold the lid down as she zipped it closed. After a few seconds of intense struggle, they finally managed to seal the suitcase. Stepping back with a satisfied smile on her lips, Pyrrha watched as the zipper strained under the force pressing against it, praying that after the 8th time re-folding the clothes the suitcase would actually remain shut this time.

"So…you don't want your family spending so much money only to get to see you for a little bit?" Nora asked quizzically as she gave the suitcase a probing poke with her finger. Pyrrha flinched, expecting the case to explode open like it had the last seven times they had tried move it. She found herself releasing a great sigh of relief when the case held.

"That is the long and short of it I suppose." She said with a light laugh. Nora gave her a serious look. "Are you sure you're going to be okay here all by yourself thought? I know Jaunes here until tomorrow but after he leaves you're going to be on your own for a month!" Pyrrha giggled as Nora waved her arms around for emphasis.

Behind her exuberant attitude however, Pyrrha was well aware that Nora worried about each of them far more than perhaps was necessary. In many ways the girl reminded Pyrrha of her own mother, always trying to make sure everyone was happy and safe at all times. Placing a comforting hand on the bouncy girls shoulder, Pyrrha turned Nora toward her and proceeded to wrap her into her warm embrace.

"I'll be fine. And I said I'd keep in contact with you every day didn't I? Besides I won't really be all that alone. I was talking to Yang this morning at breakfast and it turns out Blake is also staying at Beacon over the break. Perhaps I can spend some time with her."

Nora began jumping up and down in excitement, which made maintaining the hug sort of difficult but Nora wouldn't break the embrace as she began to squeak excitedly into Pyrrha's ear.

"Oh that's right! Kitty is staying behind! Pyrrha you have to talk to her, find out if she likes tuna, Ren and I come from a fishing village, there's all kinds of tuna this kind of year. I could bring her back some! "

Pyrrha chuckled at Nora's excitement but internally she was biting back the comment about assuming Blake likes fish just because she is a Cat Faunus was incredibly racist and very presumptive. But she didn't want to part with Nora and have the other feeling ashamed of herself. The over analyzing Nora often did would result in her constantly worrying that she had seriously offended both Blake and Pyrrha and neither would hear the end of it for several months.

If you have nothing nice to say the first part of an old mantra that her mother had drilled into her echoed in Pyrrha's mind as Nora proceeded to give her one last bone crushing squeeze before releasing her and grabbing her suitcase off of Pyrrha's bed. Nora walked to the door to their dorm and turned back to wave at Pyrrha.

"Okie dokie lokie, I better get going. Ren is waiting at the dock for me and I hate to keep him waiting. I mean not that he'd really mind it's not like we're together together or anything right? I'll message you soon as we get home. "She stepped out the door, looking back to give Pyrrha one of her sugary sweet smiles that never failed to brighten the Spartan's day." have fun during the break Pyrrha! Try not to train too hard while I'm gone, don't burn the room down and have fun with Blakey wakey!" and with a wink and a grin she was gone.

Pyrrha let out a small sigh of relief. She loved her teammate, she really did but one could only keep up with such high energy for so long before collapsing in on themselves. Normally at this time Pyrrha would run through basic strategies with Jaune, quizzing him on various tactics to take during a number of different scenarios.

That is what she would usually do, however today Jaune was busying himself preparing for the two day journey to the country side outside of Vale. What such preparation required she did not know, and she had the sneaking position that Jaune was just trying to get out of any last minute training before break.

On a normal day Pyrrha would get up, put on her shoes and hunt down the young warrior and force him to run patterns with her until they both were ready to drop but not today. It was noon and She was tired, exhausted from the finals that had tested her and her team physically and mentally for the last three weeks. They had all lost a ton of sleep and the day after finals they all had looked like extras in some B movie horror flick.

If Pyrrha was being entirely honest with herself, she needed a break. It went against everything she was brought up to believe in "A Nikos never bows down and never stops going." her father would say, but she knew deep down that she needed this brief respite. While it had been little over a year since the last Mistral regional tournament but ever since then she couldn't recall a singular moment in which she had any length of time to herself.

After the tournament there was the ensuing training for the Vytal festival, Pyrrha being her countries opening bid for the title. Seeing an opportunity to further her education and escape her home Pyrrha applied to Beacon Academy, making the argument to her father that it was only logical since it would give her an idea of her competition as well as put her right at the heart of the festival. Thankfully her father had agreed, after much debate.

By some lucky twist of fate her father had also agreed to her conclusion that returning home would be a waste of time, especially so close to the tournaments start in the spring. Her father wasn't here so it was easier to convincingly lie to him and thankfully she had been able to avoid the uncomfortable and demanding atmosphere at home with the impracticability of her midyear visit.

Pyrrha also couldn't remember the last time the room was this calm, this quiet. It would be such a shame to let this opportunity go to waste.

With a happy sigh, Pyrrha laid back on the bed, laying her head on her pillow with the intent on taking a small nap before dinner. She felt herself drifting as she began to let her mind wander, mapping out all the things she wanted to see and do during her month and a half respite.

There was a modern philosophy course that Professor Goodwitch was offer that sounded interesting and even better a course on the evolution of holiday traditions in Vale taught by none other than Professor Port. While many students thought of Ports classes as boring, Pyrrha couldn't think more of the opposite. Port was a storyteller, and Pyrrha loved a good story.

Perhaps even more exciting to Pyrrha than the prospect of staying at Beacon, was having the opportunity to learn and experience the holiday traditions of Vale, many of them so very different than her own back in Mistral. In this city they took their Solstice season very seriously, just the other day she had been dazzled by the hundreds of Yule trees that had been in the process of being decorated on Beacons campus.

Jaune had explained that this time of year was very important to the people of Vale and they took the holiday very seriously. This was the time of the year they celebrated joy, love and peace on earth. The latter concept being something that Pyrrha had not often found herself dwelling on over the years, being a warrior basically from the time she could walk.

Vale itself sparkled like a multicolored jewel at night, with its many hues of greens, reds, silvers and gold. Pyrrha had even heard children speaking excitedly amongst themselves about a fairy tale creature that was said to leave presents below the Yule trees in their homes on December the 24. The very thought, though completely unrealistic and obviously a fabrication, dazzled the young Spartan girl and she wanted nothing more than to immerse herself in the culture.

'Nora said Blake is staying behind as well. She seems very knowledgeable and well read. Perhaps if there is anyone that can help me understand these traditions it'll be her. It would also be an excellent opportunity to get to know her better. 'Pyrrha sighed as she closed her eyes a small smile finding its way onto her face as her thoughts became slower and more sluggish.' No harm in asking I suppose. I don't want to impose and if she says no, well it shouldn't be too hard to strike out on my own.

It wasn't long before she felt herself slipping into the comforting oblivion of sleep with images of sugarplums and flying reindeer, thoughts of a magical season that was just waiting to be explored. All of it dancing in her head lulling her into sleeps comforting embrace.

A/N

I love the holiday season. Adore it on such a level that I have always been known as the person to go to with questions regarding Christmas and other holiday things. I love the magic of the season and I love to share it with everyone. So here is my meager attempt to begin a holiday story, to be finished with any luck by Christmas. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, it's a new pairing for me, please leave me a review to let me know what you thought! Love and light to you all!

-Crystal