Ch. 1

Weiss Schnee married for love. She loved Neptune. She really did. But not in a way a wife should love a husband. They had known each other since birth, the Vasilias family owning more than half of the nuclear power plants in Remnant. They attended all the same parties and business functions, and soon came to know each other very well. It surprised no one when they started dating in boarding school. It also didn't surprise Weiss when Neptune came to her in tears asking if she would pretend to be his girlfriend so he wouldn't have to come out to his father. It didn't surprise Weiss when Neptune asked her to marry him for the same reason. Her father allowed her to do so because of the amount of nuclear power plants the Vasilias family owned almost rivaled the amount of dust factories the Schnees ran. It was a beneficial marriage for all. Weiss and Neptune married their high school sweethearts, and the Schnee/Vasilias partnership was born, just small enough not to be considered a monopoly.

Weiss and Neptune lived like siblings for 3 wonderful years in Vale. They both were learning the family business from their fathers and enjoying their time together. That is, until both fathers died of heart-attacks, both stress-induced. It terrified Neptune into hiring two new CEO's, without consulting Weiss, and suddenly the pair of them were figure heads, not truly running the company, but never completely away from it.

Neptune and Weiss chose to spend their free time very differently. Neptune began to buy muscle cars every other week, having fun with them, and then selling them to a worthy buyer a month later. Weiss took to reading every book she could get her hands on. And when you're worth over 47 billion lien, you could get your hands on A LOT of books. Free of his father's watchful eye, Neptune began to catch the attention of several young men, while Weiss began to capture the attention of antique bookstores. At first, Weiss cautioned Neptune that traversing the streets with the flavor of the month would come back to bite him in the ass, but eventually, she realized that he could handle himself and he never got caught. Neptune suggested she come with him to some of the bars he frequented, and she did at first. None of the men there seemed to catch Weiss's attention, and eventually all the bars did were give her a massive headache, the EDM getting to her quicker than whatever she was drinking. So Weiss stayed at the elephantine Schnee mansion, reading books, chatting with servants, fencing, and painting, while Neptune had his fun with whatever boy fell victim to his charms.

Their relationship began to resemble that of an extroverted brother and an introverted sister. Neptune would come to Weiss with relationship problems, Weiss would advise as him as best she could, and it would repeat. Weiss threw herself into her fencing passions, and soon became obsessed. No person could ever be more interesting than her books. No one could ever make her feel as good as it felt to land a hit on her opponent. She began to enter fencing tournaments around Vale, but they became too trivial. Weiss had worked herself to the bone ever since she had received the scar over her left eye. She would be sure nothing like that ever happened again.

Now and then she would leave the mansion to go on a drive around town, or to run an errand for Neptune. Today was one of those times. She left the house to go to a car dealership in downtown Vale. She could have sent one of the servants out, but she wanted to get a new book from her favorite bookstore, the Page Turner. She grabbed her keys and sunglasses and headed out the front door, inhaling a large breath of fresh summer air.

Weiss got into her car and started the 5 minute drive down the mansion's driveway and headed onto the highway to get back into town. No less than ten minutes later however, did the front of her car start to smoke and alarming noises began to come from the engine. She signaled right and pulled over to the side of the highway, got out of her car and popped the hood. The engine was smoking, but she had no idea what was wrong. Just as she was about to call Neptune for help, an obnoxiously yellow pickup truck pulled up behind Weiss's car and the door flew open.

Out hopped the most vibrant women Weiss had ever laid eyes on. She was tall, her legs almost twice as long as Weiss's. She was wearing a pair of jean shorts, a yellow sleeveless tank top and extremely worn timberland boots. The mane of golden blonde hair that cascaded down her back reached far below her shoulders. It was so bright and bold that is seemed to be made out of the sunlight itself. The woman wore a pair of aviator sunglasses and the kindest smile Weiss had ever seen.

But the thing that drew Weiss's attention immediately was the woman's right side. From the elbow down on her right arm was completely made of sleek metal that glinted in the light. It appeared to be totally functional, as the woman raised the prosthetic limb and waved to greet her.

"Hi there! Need some help?" said the woman, gesturing to Weiss's car.

Weiss's retort that she "would be perfectly fine on her own, thank you very much" died on her tongue. She could only manage a small nod, the woman quite literally leaving her speechless. The woman however, wasn't fazed at all. She smiled and made her way over to the car, pushing her glasses up onto the top of her head. Weiss managed to contain the small gasp that almost escaped her lips. She was wrong about the woman; the most remarkable thing about her wasn't her arm, but her eyes. She had the most gorgeous lilac eyes, and the fact that Weiss got lost in them for a few blissful moments confused the hell out of her-

"Um, Miss?"

The woman had asked her a question, Weiss hadn't been paying any attention…."I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" Weiss asked politely, cursing herself for giving such a bad first impression.

"Oh, I just asked when the last time you got your oil changed was?" asked the woman.

"My...oil…?" Weiss repeated, "I, um, I don't think I've ever gotten it changed." Why was she stuttering? She had stared down multiple business tycoons, why was this wild-haired person giving her so much trouble?

"Well, it might just be time to do that! I have a spare filter in the truck that should get you at least to the auto-shop, I can do a quick change, but we need to flush all the gunk you have in your engine out right away, Miss Schnee" the woman said with the utmost certainty, as if she was telling Weiss that the sky was blue.

"How did you know my name?" Weiss asked, with a bit more bite than intended. She was still busy trying to figure out why she was secretly wishing for the woman to call her by her first name to keep any of the her usual coldness out of her tone.

"Please, ice blue eyes, white hair, crazy expensive car, you've got to be a Schnee," said the woman, smiling. "Am I wrong?"

"No, it's just that not many people know me, they mostly know my father…" Weiss trailed off, thinking about her father was still painful, "but, I don't believe I know your name?"

"Yang Xiao Long," said the woman, putting the prosthetic hand on her hip and sticking her left hand confidently out to shake Weiss's

"It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Xiao Long, I-"

"Whoa, whoa. Ms. Xiao Long is my father," teased the blonde, "Please, call me Yang," said the woman, still wearing a dazzling smile.

"Alright...Yang, you'd be doing me a great service if you helped me get my car back in working order, my husband says I should only go to the Sun Dragon auto-shop, do you know where that is?" Weiss stated in the most business-like manner she could manage. This women, this Yang, was the most confusing thing Weiss had ever encountered...and yet she was enjoying the sensation of butterflies in her stomach for whatever reason.

Yang laughed, the sound only contributing to Weiss's confusion for wishing that she could hear it again. "Yeah I know where it is, my sister and I run it, it's only 10 minutes from here. Let me change your filter and we can get going," said the blonde, turning and walking over to her truck.

Within 15 minutes, Yang had drained the excess oil out Weiss's tank, and replaced the filter, with only a single spot of oil on her yellow tank top to show for it.

Weiss then got back into her car, and followed the blonde into town to the auto-shop. Yang pulled into a spot labeled "employees only" and got out of her truck. She gestured for Weiss to pull into the garage and entered through a side door. Weiss had never been in an auto-shop before, but could tell at first glance that this one was distinctly unique. The walls alternated between yellow and red, and while most of the garage was dedicated to machinery that Weiss could only guess the function of, there was a small area in the corner that looked a lot like a break room. There was a large and comfortable looking couch, several bean bags and a tv with a small gaming rig attached. There was a woman sitting on the ground less than a foot away from the TV with a controller in her hands and her tongue slightly sticking out in concentration. She was wearing mechanics overalls, with the top peeled down to reveal a red tank top underneath.

"Rubbles! I need one of the old containers, and if you could throw a spare filter in the truck, that'd be great" Yang called to the woman. She turned to Weiss, jabbing a thumb over shoulder. "That's my little sister Ruby, she's not one for much conversation when she gets on a roll in Mario Kart." She turned and called over shoulder, "Ruby! I need your help!"

"YANG YOU MADE ME LOSE MY LEAD" Ruby wailed in response. Yang rolled her eyes and went to fetch the container herself. She returned to Weiss standing awkwardly in the middle of the shop, looking extremely out of place.

"Here," Yang offered, pulling up a chair for the smaller girl, "you can sit here, this'll only take a few minutes." With that, Yang strutted over to Weiss's vehicle, grabbed a creeper, and slid under the car. Weiss heard a popping noise, then the sound of liquid hitting the bottom of the container. A few minutes later, the blonde emerged from underneath the car with a full container and oil smudged adorably across her left cheek.

...wait, "adorably"?

She smiled at Weiss, then went back around to the front of the car. Yang began to pour oil into the engine, and Weiss couldn't help but think about her current predicament. Why was she noticing all these things about Yang? Why did she get butterflies when the blonde looked at her? Why did those lavender eyes looking into her own make her feel things none of the stuck up boarding school boys had be-

Wait, the beautiful eyes were looking at her. Yang's mouthed had moved, Weiss had missed the question again. And judging by the amused look on the blonde's face, Yang had noticed Weiss was staring.

"Like what you see Ms. Schnee?" Yang teased.

"Excuse me you- you brute! I...I must have been...a bit distracted for a moment." Weiss finished with a blush. 'Dear Lord...I'm attracted to her…' Weiss finally came to the conclusion that was about as obvious as the rainbow flag hung proudly outside the auto-shop.

Yang threw her head back and laughed, causing a small smile to reappear on Weiss's face. "I was only joking, I just asked if you could start your car, it needs to run for a minute."

Weiss nodded, stood up carefully, and walked over to the car. She turned the engine over and when Yang made a cutting motion, turned it off again. Weiss got out of the car and started to walk around to the front, when she stepped directly on top of the creeper She let out a surprised yelp and felt herself falling, but before she felt the unforgiving cement floor of the garage connect with her body, Weiss felt a pair of arms around her, one slightly cold and the other extremely warm, and the sensation was enough to send blood rushing to her cheeks. Yang had caught her at the last minute, and they were now in a bit of a compromising position, the blonde holding tightly onto the smaller girl, their bodies only a few inches away.

Weiss blinked rapidly and studied Yang's face for a moment, and saw a blazing look in the blonde's eyes that wasn't there before. Yang licked her lips nervously, the motion bringing Weiss's attention to her mouth. Her blush deepened and she felt the overwhelming urge to lean in and-

"Alright Yang, what do you need?" a voice called from the other side of the car.

In an instant, Weiss was again standing upright and Yang was several feet away back to work on the engine. Not before Weiss noticed a blush spread across the still oil-smudged face though. She was sure her own face turned an even deeper shade of red, and turned away for a moment to compose herself.

"Oh, now you wanna help? Tell me, how many times did you have to get your butt kicked by the CPUs before you decided that I was worth your time?"

"YOU CAN ONLY BEAT THEM BECAUSE YOU'RE PART CYBORG AND YOU KNOW THAT," Ruby accused, dramatically pointing a finger at her older sister.

"What are you talking about, I was kicking butt since that game came out, Rubbles," Yang teased, using her metal arm to throw Ruby easily into a playful headlock, ruffling her hair. She laughed as Ruby pushed her off, huffed and straightened her hair.

"Um...hello." Ruby said shyly, after noticing Weiss for the first time.

"Oh, sorry! Rubes, this is Ms. Schnee, her car broke down when I was on the way to the bakery, so I helped her get back here", Yang stated.

"You didn't make it to the bakery!? You promised me cookies!" Ruby pouted and crossed her arms, and Weiss couldn't help but stand there dumbfounded as a grown woman suddenly looked like a six year old getting denied dessert after dinner.

"Ah don't worry squirt, you'll get your cookies, helping people comes first though, remember?" Yang said, ruffling Ruby's hair again. "Do you mind throwing a filter into the truck though, I used my spare to help Ms. Schnee."

"Weiss."

"What?" The sisters spoke at the same time, turning to look at the white-haired girl in question, the sudden outburst unexpected by all of them.

Weiss felt a burning in her cheeks, but responded anyway. "It's...it's Weiss. We've been properly acquainted, so...it's only fair that you call me Weiss."

Yang stared for a few more seconds, before breaking out into a bright grin "Alright." Ruby still looked confused, but shrugged and turned to get another filter for Yang. The blonde was still staring at Weiss before the girl cleared her throat.

"So is everything alright with the car?" Weiss asked carefully, not wanting to waste Yang's time, but most definitely not wanting to leave.

"Not yet, you've got to drive the car around the block a couple times just to make sure the oil's settled. If it's fine you can drive on back home, if not, come back here and we'll fix her up." Weiss still looked unsure, not entirely comfortable with driving around a car that had just had engine troubles.

Yang picked up on this and crossed to Weiss. "Tell you what, I'll give you my number. If anything happens while you're out and about, give me a call, I'll come pick you up."

Weiss stood stunned for a moment contemplating her options. She wanted the blonde's number, but didn't want her to know that. Before she could stop herself she stated coldly "I'm sure I'll be fine, I can handle a little car trouble."

Yang laughed and put her hand on her hip, "An independent Ice Princess, I can respect that. Still. You never know." Weiss sighed, pretending that this was a huge inconvenience, and handed her phone to Yang. The blonde punched her number in and handed it back with a wink.

Weiss felt her cheeks heat up again, so she turned and got back into her car, backing it out of the garage. She was about to drive away when she stopped and rolled her window down.

"How much do I owe you?" she asked Yang out the window, already pulling out her purse.

"Don't worry about it, this one's on the house," Yang said easily, waving away Weiss's offer. Weiss froze. She had been alive for 27 years. Never, in all of that time, had anyone turned down a Schnee's money. Not that it mattered, they had piles of it, but no one had ever offered her a service free of charge. If Yang didn't want money for the service...what did she want? Weiss's eyes shot to the rainbow flag and felt a blush creep up her cheeks for what felt like the hundredth time that day.

"Don't hesitate to call if you need anything. Anything at all. It was nice to meet you...Weiss." Yang said with a smile.

And as she drove off Weiss couldn't get the sound of Yang saying her name out of her head, or subdue the butterflies she felt in her stomach that came with it.