"Here ya go, Winnie." Yin pulled up in front of the cafe. Winter hopped off the back of the bike, and hooked her helmet to her seat.

"Thank you for the ride, Yin."

"It was my honour. Is Jade inside already?" Winter checked her scroll. A text from Jade confirmed that she was already at the table.

"Yeah. I'll text you when we're done, okay?"

"Sounds good. Oh, and Winter?"

"Yeah?"

"Whatever Weiss may say about you and Jade, just know that she's really proud of you and she's glad you're coming out of your shell." Yin smiled. Winter felt her cheeks redden.

"It's all thanks to you, Yin." She replied.

"I think I can take most of the credit, yeah. Anyways, go. She's waiting for you. You can't leave your new girlfriend hanging." Yin revved Bumblebee and peeled off. Winter definitely blushed at the word 'girlfriend'. Only a couple of weeks ago, she was a really shitty ally at a pride parade. Now, she was walking into her first date with a beautiful woman. She took a moment to steel herself.

"Let's do this, Schnee." She said to herself. She headed to the entrance, and before she got there, a man in a suit opened the door for her. She slipped him a ten-lien note and thanked him. Jade was sitting at a table not too far in. She was wearing a long-sleeve shirt and jeans.

"Um, hey." She immediately rushed to pull Winter's chair out for her. When Winter sat down, Jade took her own seat again. "I get that you're used to more expensive stuff, but this is honestly the best I can do with my shitty paycheck."

"Jade, it's alright. I'll just pay for the next date." Winter smiled.

"Next date, hmm?" Jade smirked. Winter's heart melted.

"I'm hoping for one." She said.

"Well, so am I. Anyways, I happen to know what's good to eat here. Do you trust me to choose the best options?"

"Of course." Winter smiled. First date and she was being treated to a mystery meal. She could get used to this. Jade flagged down a waiter.

"Hey James. The usual." She said. The waiter nodded.

"The usual?" Winter asked.

"I come here often enough that they know what I like." Jade brushed a few strands of hair out of her face. "If it's alright, I kinda wanna get to know you better."

"That's more than alright, but only if I get to know you better."

"Sounds like a deal." Jade grinned. "I'm guessing you're doing high school right now?"

"Heading into my third year. Does it bother you that I'm so young?"

"Not so much as it did initially. I was a little taken aback that you were only 15. And the whole boob touching thing."

"Sorry about that. I don't know what I was thinking at the time."

"You were just trying to help. I actually took your advice, and filled small balloons with water. They do feel a lot more fluid." Jade subtly glanced down at her chest. Winter tried not to stare.

"Was that a pun?" She asked quickly.

"Huh?" Jade stared blankly at her.

"Water balloons, fluid?"

"Oh. Wow, I did not intend to do that."

"I can't tell from just looking, but I think they should be really nice."

"Do you wanna check later?" Jade blushed slightly.

"That's very forward for our first date." Winter teased.

"Sorry. I wanna know something."

"Well, I do believe this was the 'getting to know each other' part of our date."

"Point taken. What was going through your mind when you kissed me?"

"I believe you kissed me, not the other way around."

"Winterrrrr." Jade complained.

"Fine." Winter chuckled. "I was thinking that I really liked it. Even if you were a girl, and up until then, I thought I was straight. I'm still not really sure what I am, honestly."

"That's okay. You'll figure it out."

"Well, the closest I can guess is that I'm bisexual. I do really like boys, but recently, I've been paying attention to girls too, just out of curiosity."

"I certainly hope you're not checking out any other women." Jade teased.

"No! Well, sorta? I've been seeing if I felt any sort of attraction to them."

"And what were the results of this experiment?"

"Well, I found that far more women than I thought are really pretty. None of them can hold a candle to you, obviously, but some are really good-looking."

Winter saw Jade's lips turn into a smile as she complimented the green-haired woman.

"Thank you." Jade said softly.

"Thanks aren't necessary when I'm pointing out the obvious. You're absolutely beautiful." Winter smiled.

"Well, I'm thanking you anyways." The waiter returned with a plate of breadsticks and a bowl of some sort of cheesy dip.

"Thanks, James." Jade said. "Okay, so this is artichoke and swiss. It's really good." Jade broke a breadstick in half and offered a piece to Winter. The younger woman gratefully accepted the piece and dipped it into the cheese. Jade offered her cheese-covered bread to Winter.

"What? I've got my own piece."

"Come on, let's be one of those cheesy as hell couples." Jade smirked. Winter rolled her eyes and held her breadstick in front of Jade's mouth. The woman chomped on it and the same time as Winter bit Jade's breadstick. Winter immediately loved the taste. The swiss blended perfectly with the bitter taste of artichoke.

"Oh shit, that's good." Winter covered her mouth as she swallowed.

"I know, right? That's why I order it every time."

The two young women enjoyed their food for a few more minutes, until Winter gave Jade a suspicious look.

"Did you make another pun?"

"Yup." Jade's eyes filled with mirth as she grinned wolfishly. Winter shook her head and smiled.

The dip was done before the breadsticks, and Winter looked longingly at the bowl.

"We can get more if you want." Jade offered.

"No, that's alright. I don't want you to have to pay too much."

"Winter, this is my one opportunity to impress you. Our first date should be perfect. I don't mind." Jade finished her final breadstick. "Besides, you're paying for the next one, right?"

"That is true. But I'd rather save room for whatever else is coming."

"That just means more for me. It could right to my hips." Jade winked. Winter rolled her eyes again.

"How do you like high school?"

"It's not as bad as it was made out to be. I've a few teachers who are pretty nice. They know their subject, and they don't tolerate nonsense from the troublemakers."

"There are troublemakers in Atlas? For shame!"

"Oh shush. Yeah, there are some people who just don't like the Atlesian way."

"I think we call them Mistrali."

"Wow, that's a political joke."

"Get used to it, cutie." Jade drank some of her water, and coughed when it went down the wrong way.

"How did you like high school? You've graduated, right?"

"Yeah, I just got out last month. Honestly, it was hell. I figured out that I was trans halfway through first year, and after that, I couldn't stand to be called a guy or be referred to as my birth name. I came out to my parents just after I turned 15 and I had to deal with the school bureaucracy and police when I started living with my friend."

"I'm so sorry, Jade." Winter reached across the table to take Jade's hand. The older woman smiled.

"I'd love to say that it doesn't hurt anymore, but it really does. They're my parents, ya know? Half of me wants to believe that they could accept me as their daughter, their little girl, and the other half knows they've been stuck in their bigotry for far too long. I'll never be welcome with them."

"Oh, Jade."

"Hey, it's alright. I've got friends all around me, and I've got a really amazing girlfriend. I'll be good."

Winter couldn't help but smile.

"I'm still a bit stuck with my bad vocabulary, thanks to my asshole of a father. You might need to keep me in line. Ruby certainly has."

"She's the girl that really likes red clothing, right?"

"Yeah, that's her. Yin/Yang's little sister."

"How've you adjusted to the whole bigender deal?"

"Um, I'd like to say pretty well. Weiss has adjusted perfectly, and she can even tell if it's gonna be a Yin or a Yang day before Yin/Yang can. So I'm trying to be even better than her, because sibling rivalry and all that."

"I hear a 'but' in there."

"I accidentally called him a 'he-she' yesterday."

"Oooh, ouch. Yeah, that won't fly." Jade made a face to express her sympathy.

"Weiss gave me a pretty big lecture after that, but Yin didn't really mind. He's fine as long as I'm trying to do better."

"I like that guy."

"Yeah, he's pretty cool. My sister really likes him and that's enough for me."

"Yeah, I'd say that she really likes him. They are engaged, after all. Do you know when the wedding is?"

"Yin said he wants it to be next year, so um...so you could be a bridesmaid."

Jade blushed deeply.

"A year of dating you? I think I'd really like that."

"I thought something similar when he told me." Winter squeezed Jade's hand. James came back with bowls of soup. Winter got a dark orange soup with bits of mushroom floating in it, and Jade got a tame-looking mushroom soup.

"What is this?" Winter asked.

"Lemon and mushroom. Try a sip." Jade said, obviously trying her hardest to maintain a straight face. Winter gave her a look, but she took her hand back from Jade's grasp, and consumed a spoonful of her soup. She immediately started choking.

"That's spicy!" She gasped. Jade started laughing hard.

"Yeah, forgot to mention that there's a few really spicy peppers in there. If you don't like it, we can swap. Honestly, you were supposed to get this one, and I was supposed to get the spicy soup, but I figured I'd let it go." Jade held her hand out for the bowl. Winter contemplated her options for a second, then held the bowl possessively close to her chest.

"I'm gonna tough this one out." She said. She noticed Jade's gaze rest temporarily on her chest. Jade blinked quickly, and looked back at Winter's face.

"If you insist." She smiled.

"My girlfriend the sadist." Winter muttered. A few minutes of choking and spluttering later, and she let Jade take the soup. The white soup Jade had proved to be far more manageable, but Jade didn't seem to mind the spice of the lemon soup.

"I've worked up a bit of a resistance." Jade said when she noticed Winter staring. "Also, I really like spicy things."

"I'll keep that in mind. So, what do you do for work?"

"Um, at the moment, I'm not really employed. My friend's letting me stay at her place rent-free at the moment, but I'm gonna have one hell of a bill to pay when I finally get income."

"Ouch. Is there just nobody hiring?"

"Uh, it's not that." Jade's eyes dropped to her lap. "People just don't want to hire someone like me."

"Can they do that?" Winter gasped. "I mean, aren't there laws against that kind of discrimination?"

"Only for queer people. Sexual orientation can't be discriminated against, but for now, gender identity can be. Legally, I'm male. I can't change that until next year. So employers take one look at my ID, and I'm out on my ass." Jade frowned.

"That's awful! Okay, starting right now, I'm gonna make it my mission to get that law repealed."

"That's an admirable offer, Winter, but who do you think makes the laws? Hint: It's nobody that cares about trans people."

"Then we'll get them disbarred, or whatever it is. This can't continue!"

Jade looked up and give Winter a sad smile.

"If only it worked like that. Sadly, I don't think there's much we can do except drum up public support. But cisgender people got their sexuality rights, and started resting on their laurels. They care, just not enough."

"That's not right. Not right at all."

"Such passion! And to think that you were a bigot a month ago."

And now it was Winter's turn to duck her head.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered.

"Hey, I forgive you. You can't blame yourself for what you did when you were ignorant. The only thing to do is to keep moving forward and better yourself every day." Jade's voice soothed Winter. Not enough, however.

"You don't understand." Winter looked up to stare Jade in the eyes. "I told my dad about Yin. I snooped and I stuck my nose where it didn't belong, and because of me, Yin was almost killed. He doesn't blame me at all, but I have nightmares about the whole thing. He's done so much good for my sister since then, and his friends are amazing, and because of him, I was able to meet you, and I almost screwed all of that up. I've felt like shit ever since, and I'd do anything to go back and fix it." Winter started crying, drawing looks from other patrons.

"Holy shit, Winter." Jade said, not bothering to disguise her low voice. Winter stood up, bumping the table.

"I'm sorry." She said to everyone around, and then she ran out of the restaurant and let the tears fall. Less than a minute later, she felt Jade sit beside her, and wrap her arms around Winter. Winter leaned into Jade, and cried into her shoulder. Her girlfriend shushed her gently, kissing her forehead every few seconds.

"You'll probably always feel guilty about what happened, I can't fault you there. What you're gonna have to do is learn to live with what you did. You're a beautiful young woman, and you made a mistake. It could have been a lot worse, but it wasn't. The persons hurt by your mistake have forgiven you, so it's time to forgive yourself." Jade said quietly.

"He could have died, Jade. All because I wanted to know who my sister was dating. And I fucking told my dad that Weiss was dating a girl, and he tried to kill Yin." Winter wailed.

"I know, sweetheart. But he's still alive, and he's fine, and he's engaged to the love of his life. Honestly, I think he loves you like a sister too. I don't see how he can't. Everything is over and done with, and he's fine, and Weiss is fine, and you're gonna be more than fine, okay?"

"How?" Winter sniffled.

"I don't know how yet, but we'll get there together. We've both got a lot of hurt that needs to be dealt with, but I know we can make it. And you wanna know how I know this?"

"How?"

"I know this because I really, really like you, and I won't stop until you're happy. Capiche?" That's all it took for Winter to sit up, and kiss Jade. Jade responded immediately and pulled Winter close to her body.

"I really, really like you too." Winter said when she pulled away.

"That's really good." Jade kissed Winter quickly.

"Still wanna date me?" Winter smiled, her tears still flowing.

"Of course, my angel."

"Good."

"Wanna get out of here? Go to Yang and Blake's place, or mine, or what?"

"We could always go to the VIP suite of the Schnee Hotel. You can meet my mom. She's super fine with me being into girls. Or one girl, in particular."

"That sounds amazing. I already paid the bill. James was chill about it."

"That's good. You know, these are feeling a lot more natural." Winter poked Jade's chest. The green-haired woman laughed, and kissed Winter's forehead.

"Lead the way, sweetheart."

AN

It's been a year since we lost a great man. Monty Oum created RWBY and the characters we love so much, and he's been gone for a year. In honour of his work, and everything he did, every February 1, we mark his passing and we create something new. Something that he would proud of. Obviously, we can't speak for him and say that our memorial to him is fitting, but I'd like to believe it is. For the first Monty Oum Day, I wanted to try something different. I asked the writer of one of my favourite fics if I could make a pseudo-sequel to the fic. There were too many plotlines left unfinished, in my opinion, and I wanted to develop a relationship that appeared at the very end of the main fic. This fic was obviously BodyshocK. If you haven't read it yet, what the hell are you doing here? GO READ IT.

All credit for the fic, concepts, and Jade, goes to JessicaX and YinYangBangBang. It's also YYBB's birthday today, so go show them some love. They totally deserve because they're a freaking rad person. Thanks YYBB for letting me write this. I hope it's up to your standards.

Keep moving forward, everyone.

-Abby