Thank you all so much for the response to chapter one. This story is such a different experience from Run because it's mostly relationship centered and I've always enjoyed writing that the most. It's gonna be a slow burn, but I plan to update pretty consistently so hopefully it doesn't feel like too long of a burn.

Someone asked if the war I mentioned was with Salem and all of that and it is, this story is 100% set in the canon world, just years after they win the war they're currently fighting in the show. It has no connection to Run though, this story stands on it's own.

There will also be plenty of flashbacks in the coming chapters, but they'll be displayed with italics.

Anyway, enough from me. Thoughts and feedback always appreciated :)

With another sniffle, Weiss shook her head to try and stop the tears from coming. She'd demanded that her secretary not let anyone near her office for the next thirty minutes because she needed time to let all this out and no one could see Weiss Schnee crying.

She was a woman who commanded respect and intimidated those who needed it. Because of that, she couldn't be seen as weak within her company. She was much gentler than her father, she cared about people – but she was still a Schnee with an iron fist.

That's the person she wanted everyone to see – the same person who had just fired a sixty-five-year-old employee because he was no longer able to keep his work rate up to match those around him. He'd been with the company for twenty-five years but he was slowing down his department and because of his time at the company, Weiss felt it was her responsibility to break the news to him.

It would have been easier if he'd been upset – if he'd yelled and screamed at her for being a monster.

She could play that role.

Instead he thanked her for the opportunity. Thanked her for taking the time to meet with him and for all the loyalty. He was losing his job and she knew he had a family – she knew about all her employees and even still she fired him and he thanked her.

Weiss felt like garbage – the lowest of the low. She could have let him stay on – maybe moved him to an easier role within the company but then that would merely set a precedent that you could be kind and get away with being unproductive.

No, she had to let him go and she knew it was the right move for the Schnee Dust Company. Still, she needed this time alone to feel it and to feel human for taking away the livelihood of a kind old man. Money was never something Weiss would ever have to worry about – but she knew how much it mattered to most people.

People unlike her. People who had earned it.

Wiping at her eyes again, she was startled by the sudden ringing her computer was making. There was a call incoming and she was all set to absolutely berate her secretary for deliberately ignoring her instructions – only to realize it was her personal line going off. The one she handled herself without any help from her poor, overworked secretary.

"You're a mess today, Weiss." She chided herself before seeing Blake's face pop up on the screen. Suddenly remembering she'd been crying, Weiss rubbed her eyes.

"Oh, hey Blake. Didn't expect a call from you in the middle of –"

"You're crying." Blake said without even giving Weiss a chance to finish her hello. "What's wrong?"

Weiss sighed. "It's nothing. Just…a long day. Being the boss sucks."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I can call back?"

"No, please don't. It's wonderful to hear from you – especially after what I just dealt with. Though the daytime call is alarming. Is everything okay?"

She saw Blake's smile grow and any worry she might have had faded. "Actually, um…she asked me."

"She didn't?" Weiss' eyes went wide. She and Blake had speculated for months during all their calls that Yang was planning something. "She asked you to marry her? Finally?!"

"Finally," Blake held up her hand to show off the ring and Weiss was genuinely impressed.

"Wow, did she steal that?"

Blake frowned. "She didn't…I mean, I didn't ask but she didn't steal it! Yang makes good money at Beacon!"

"I'll say," Weiss examined the ring in the monitory but it didn't shine nearly as much as Blake's smile. "I didn't know professors made that much considering Oobleck wore the same crummy shirt and tie to work every day." She noticed the blank stare Blake was giving her. "Alright, sorry I was sidetracked. So she asked you, how'd she do it?"

"Nothing fancy, very Yang. We were just together and I was cooking her dinner and she said something about how I always put her silverware on the left side and I just do it because I know she doesn't like to use her prosthetic arm to eat and she just…she told me she loved me more than anything in the world and she got down on one knee and…she asked me to spend the rest of my life with her."

Typically, one to tease and antagonize Yang at a moment's notice, Weiss found herself all but swooning at the story of the proposal. "Wow, that's…Yang did that?"

Blake's smile somehow grew even more. "She did that." She saw Blake's ears twitch atop her head and rolled her eyes.

"Look at you so smitten. Blake Belladonna, one of the heroes of The Remnant War turned into nothing more than a love struck teenager."

"I defy your comment with every fiber of my being. I am a cold, distant warrior who sheaths her emotions because they make me weak and vulnerable." Weiss didn't need to say anything, just continued to stare Blake down. "Alright I'm a big mess of goo, but I love her so much, Weiss."

Suddenly feeling so much better, Weiss shook her head with a smile. "I can't complain about that. Even if it is odd to see you smile so much." She sat up a bit straighter. "So, have you guys set a date yet? Want me to book you anywhere in particular? I know of a few five star resorts I could book entirely for a few weeks."

"No, Weiss – no I'm not going to have you pay for our wedding. We're not even planning to do anything too big or fancy."

"Blake, it's no trouble. I've made enough money during this conversation to rent you two an island for a week to honeymoon on."

"No I –" Blake stopped and tilted her head, her ears perking up. "Wait, really?"

Weiss shrugged. "We make money despite ourselves here at the Schnee Dust Company." She said as if it were the company slogan – which it honestly could be.

"Well I don't want your money, though you may have to buy a few meals before the wedding." Weiss snorted with laughter before nodded. "I was actually hoping you might…want to be up there with me during the ceremony? As…" Blake was clearly nervous and Weiss thought her chest might implode. "As my maid of honor?" Weiss knew the shock was colored all over her expression – that was the absolute last thing she ever expected. She and Blake had grown very close. They talked every single week and had shared so much during and after the war. But she never thought it would be at that level, mostly because – "I know it might not look good for you to be so prominent in the wedding of a Faunus, given your standing with the SDC, I just –"

"I'll do it." Weiss cut her off quickly and matter-of-factly.

"Really?" Blake beamed.

"Yes, are you kidding me? Blake Belladonna I don't care what these stuffed shirts think – I would be privileged to be your maid of honor!"

Weiss noted the tears in Blake's eyes and immediately realized that she had blurred vision of her own. It hit her hard in this moment just how far she and Blake had come – how foolish she had been to believe Blake was anything but wonderful. They had their differences, they were both wounded by their childhoods, but they were friends – best friends and Weiss wouldn't trade it for anything.

Taking a deep breath, Blake wiped at her eyes and sighed. "I did not intend to get this emotional and I probably shouldn't make you cry at work."

"It's no problem," Weiss waved her off. "I was already crying."

"You never told me why?"

She hadn't and the truth was she couldn't. Yes, firing that old man felt terrible, but these tears felt like so much more – as if she'd been holding them in for days. "It's been a rough few days." It was true, the problem was that she could replace days with years and still be telling the truth. "I could really use this to get away and be with you guys. Though you still haven't told me where you're having the wedding?"

Blake seemed a bit hesitant to respond and Weiss figured it out almost immediately. "Patch."

"Blake…" Weiss frowned deeply.

"I know."

"Blake," Weiss whined.

"Weiss, she's Yang's sister and she won't come if we don't go to her. Ruby's…"

"No," Weiss cut her off. "I don't want to know. I told myself a long time ago that I wouldn't worry myself with Ruby Rose." She shook her head furiously and sat in the silence between them. She waited and when she opened her eyes Blake was looking at her through the monitory with her lips pursed. Blake was insufferable. "Fine, Ruby's what? Tell me?"

Blake rolled her eyes. "She's pretty isolated. We'll go weeks without hearing from her. She hunts on long missions and if Yang wasn't so persistent I don't know if she'd check in at all. Taiyang lives close to her, but he can't keep up with her all the time and there are times when he gets really worried because Ruby will be away on missions for months and she comes back and locks herself away in her home. We talked to her this morning and she's excited about the wedding – she's going to be a part of it and…" Blake sighed. "Yang wants to ask her to move to Vale with us. She misses her."

There was not a single day that passed where Weiss didn't think about Ruby. Some days those thoughts were anger and others they were memories of how insanely happy Ruby made her. Usually one led to the other and sometimes they intertwined into one giant mess of emotion that drove her to drink.

Regardless, she hadn't had any contact of any kind with Ruby for almost three years now and their last conversation ended with the word 'hate' being thrown around freely by the both of them.

Weiss never knew if Ruby meant it, she certainly didn't – but she was so stubborn and angry that when all of their unspoken problems came to a head, neither of them handled it well.

"Blake I –" her voice caught in her throat and she took a breath. "I don't know if I can be around her. I don't know if she'll even want to be around me."

There was a look Blake had, one Weiss had come to deem as the 'I'm about to tell you something you don't want to hear' look. She was wearing it now and Weiss was prepared to be defeated "I love you, Weiss and I know your history with Ruby is messy. That being said, this is Yang and I's wedding. It's not about you two. We want you there, I want you there but Ruby has to be there and we want her there too. I know it might be hard but I'm asking you to try for us."

Weiss and Ruby might tear down the entire island of Patch when it was all said and done, but she wasn't about to say no to Blake. "Of course…of course I'll be there."

Blake grinned. "Good, I really should get back to work but it's great to see you, Weiss. And remember, two weeks from tomorrow we'll be heading to Patch so start planning for that.

"Way ahead of you," Weiss held up her scroll and showed off the calendar. "Taking two whole weeks."

"Awesome, it's going to be a lot of fun." Blake seemed confident, even if Blake Belladonna and fun were about as common as Weiss Schnee and fun. "See you soon."

"Bye, Blake. Congratulations!"

When the call ended, Weiss was left with a swelling and good feeling in her chest. She was, despite everything, excited to see Blake and Yang again. It would be fun to be around them and to have something other than the Schnee Dust Company to look forward to.

Yes, the thoughts of Ruby and the presence of Ruby were scary – not to mention the unsettling picture Blake painted of Ruby's life now. It was something she couldn't dwell on, she had no control over it and no right to tell Ruby how to live her life.

Shaking her head furiously, Weiss tucked away the thoughts of Ruby as she had for years now. It was as Blake said, this was not about she and Ruby. After all, she was going to be Blake's maid of honor. That meant helping with planning and decorations and parties.

Oh.

The bachelorette party – Weiss had never considered such a thing and now would she be in charge of throwing one for Blake? What would that even consist of? All she knew of them was from trash novels and television programs she'd seen.

Most of those involved…

Weiss stared at her monitor and chewed on her bottom lip. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to inquire.

Strippers. She typed into the search bar and let her fingers linger over the enter key. It hung there for a few moments before she backtracked and tried again. Expensive Strippers.

After all, it would only be the best.

She hit enter and peeked over the monitor to make sure no one was coming – as if anyone would barge in unannounced into the CEO's office. Still, better to be safe than sorry as she checked the high rise window behind her as well to make sure the washers weren't out.

Once she was safe, she pulled up the tab only to be met with an onslaught of nudity and crude images that made her immediately slam the power button on her computer.

"No, no no no." She said with a shake of her head. "No bachelorette party thrown by Weiss Schnee will have anything like that. What in the world would you even need a banana for?" She would be sure to clear her search history later, for now, she had a brunch to get to.

Her big sister had always been stoic – even as children Winter rarely spoke out of turn. She was less emotional than Weiss and much better at feeling out their father's moods. Even still, Weiss couldn't help but notice that her big sister was being even quieter than usual.

She'd been polite of course, saying hello and embracing Weiss as she always did, but the conversation was mostly one sided and when the meal came, Winter barely said a word.

So Weiss continued to pick at her coffee cake and peek up at Winter on occasion to see those blue eyes looking back at her.

When Winter's scroll went off and she didn't even look down to check it before ignoring the message, Weiss caved.

"What is it, Winter?"

"I beg your pardon?" Winter said with narrow eyes.

"You keep staring at me, you're quiet and you've been watching me the entire time we've been here."

Winter shrugged. "We are sitting across from one another, are we not? Would you rather I stare at the bearded man sitting behind you playing with this eggs?"

Weiss peeked back to see exactly what Winter had described, a young man with an enormous red beard who was merely poking his eggs with his fork and swirling them around. Frustrated, she turned back to her sister. "No, I want you to tell me what's on your mind? Why are you so quiet? Is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine, Sister. I'm more worried about you."

"Me?" Weiss was surprised. "Why me? I'm fine."

"You're always fine."

Weiss frowned. "Well what do you expect me to be. I have my work, I have the manor, I'm –"

"A Schnee through and through." Winter commented before sipping her coffee. "You've certainly fallen right into exactly what father wanted for you."

Oh…this was what they were doing.

"Someone had to take over the SDC, Winter. I don't know why you're bringing this up now."

Putting her glass down, Winter rested her hands on the table. "It's no secret that you've done tremendous work in bringing the Schnee Dust Company to new levels and doing it without the questionable business practices that our father mastered."

"Which was like running through a cornfield backwards and bare bottomed, but yes, it was the only way I would take over."

"And you've done well, but Weiss I only ever see you here – at these meals. You never come to visit me, you never take me up on my offers for weekends to the coast or vacations to get you away from that place. You live in father's old home, alone – just as he did. You're twenty-seven and sometimes I feel like my sister is somehow ten years older than me. I worry about you."

The words struck Weiss hard, like body punches from a beowolf. She constantly refused her sister's invitations, mostly because she worried if she grabbed a taste of freedom she might never go back to the SDC. That was her life now, it was what she had poured the last six years of her life into and only recently had she really seen growth and results and change. It would be wrong to leave now and she would feel like a failure if she did.

Yet, that didn't make the days any easier, or the nights any less lonely.

Today however, Weiss had a card to play. "Actually, I do have a trip coming up that I am quite excited about."

"Oh?" Winter picked at her slice of cake.

"Yes, Blake and Yang are getting married and Blake has asked me to be her maid of honor."

Winter snorted, actually snorted out loud and Weiss had never imagined such a sound could come from her sister. "A Schnee is going to be the maid of honor in a wedding between a Faunus and a human and you're the maid of honor for the Faunus? Oh father would have a fit." Winter continued to laugh and Weiss cracked a smile at the truth of her words. Their father was such a bigot when it came to Faunus and after letting Blake into her life and other Faunus like Velvet and Neon during the war, Weiss could never forgive him for the hateful things he'd said about them when she was younger. "Weiss I think that's great – if anyone can draw you out of this funk you're in, it's Blake and that lunatic girlfriend of hers."

"I am not in a funk!" She was met with a blank stare. "I'm not!"

"When was the last time you went out before today? Not to go to work, but actually out of the house to do something for yourself."

Even as she pretended to rack her brain for an answer, Weiss knew there was no good one and she lowered her head. "When was the last time we had a meal together?"

"My point exactly! You must take advantage of this trip, Weiss! Make the most of it and have fun! Where is the wedding? A beach in Mistral? Are they staying in Vale? I know Yang's position at Beacon has been well received – Glynda has mentioned her teaching methods are both unconventional and very successful."

"Actually," Weiss let the word hang and looked away. "They're having the wedding in Patch."

When she looked to Winter again, there was disgust in her expression. "Patch? That…backwoods village? Is there even a place to have a wedding in Patch? The local community center?"

"Patch is beautiful, Winter. Yes, it's…small and doesn't have a lot to offer beyond it's views but it's also where Yang grew up and where—" her voice caught in her throat and she suddenly wanted to run away. The sentence snuck up on her so quickly she didn't have time to divert it fast enough. "Where her…father is."

Naturally, Winter pounced. "It's where your ex-girlfriend is too, isn't it?"

"Winter," Weiss warned though she knew it was pointless.

"Funny, I seem to recall you saying that you never wished to see her again – after you finished crying for a week straight on my couch."

Weiss held her head up high. "It's been years, I have moved on and I'm sure Ruby has as well. Our teammates are getting married and we can easily be in the same place together and be there for them."

"That, or you two will fuck the moment you see each other."

Dropping her fork onto the table and then hearing it bounce off the plate and onto the concrete floor of the outdoor eating area they were out made Weiss jump as she stared, wide eyed at her sister. "What did you say?!"

"I said that, or you two will fight the moment you see each other." Completely flustered and frustrated, Weiss picked up her fork off the floor and laid it on the table before Winter stood up. "I'm afraid I must be going, but I am glad that you're taking the time for this wedding, Weiss. Take extended time, okay? Give yourself a break." Weiss stood up, still a bit shaken but she sank into Winter's embrace nonetheless. "We need to do another meal before you go, oh and could you give me Yang's number so I can call and congratulate her?"

"Why do you want to call Yang?"

"To congratulate her – we spent a few months close together in Vale years back. I owe her a phone call." Weiss was suspicious – Winter never did anything without motive and she had a…look in her eye.

Still, she couldn't say no and she took Winter's scroll that was extended out to her and punched in Yang's number before giving it back.

"Don't work yourself too hard, okay? The company won't go under if you rest a little."

Weiss fought the urge to say it might because she was doing it all on her own, but she didn't. Instead she smiled and nodded and looked as if she could take on the world. "I won't, drive safe Winter."

As she sat in the backseat of her chauffeured car, Weiss couldn't get the sentence she thought Winter had said out of her mind. The last thing she wanted was a confrontation with Ruby – if all went well, they would hardly interact at all.

Certainly not enough to fight or…the other thing.

They'd done that before, on both accounts.

"Dammit," she cursed as she was suddenly feeling the heat of the day and undid the top button of her shirt and turned the music in the back up as loudly as she could. Perhaps the most accomplished tenors in all of Atlas could rid her mind of the memories of her nights with Ruby.

It was working well enough, until the hum of the car made her eyes slip shut and she was suddenly met with images of Ruby above her, beneath her, behind her.

Opening her eyes with a fury, she turned off the music and glared out the window.

Weiss hadn't misheard at all the first time Winter spoke and she knew it.