Hello everyone. Please accept this new chapter a day early.

Weiss felt amazing.

Despite still needing her morning coffee to function, having those hours that she wasted every morning doing her makeup to sleep more was a gift from Oum.

She felt her confidence rising once again to levels that could surpass what was previously attainable to her.

She and her team sat at their usual table for breakfast chatting with each other.

"I swear, we saw a dog that looked exactly like Zwei! Blake, back me up!" said Ruby.

After Ruby and Blake had gone to the weapons workshop in Vale, they had gone to a pet store to play with some cats. Blake made it clear she would not go near any dogs.

"Ruby, forgive me, but I don't really know what Zwei looks like," Blake shrugged.

"But you do! Because we saw a dog that looks exactly like him!" exclaimed Ruby, pointing at Blake.

Blake shrugged again.

"Okay, sis, do you have a picture or something? We could settle this super quickly if you do," said Yang.

"Oh! Thanks for reminding me," said Ruby as she took out her scroll and pulled up the picture. Ruby turned her scroll around, so Yang could see, "Feast your eyes!"

Yang examined the selfie of Ruby smiling sweetly while holding a black and white corgi in her free arm.

"Oh my god… Zwei!?" questioned Yang, not believing her eyes.

"I told you! Zwei has a long-lost brother!" Ruby freaked out.

Weiss shifter closer to Yang to get a look at the picture, "Let me see," she said, unamused.

Sure enough, there was a corgi, but Weiss did not know what Zwei looked like either. This dog simply sat there with its tongue out. It looked absolutely adorable.

"Aw, look at da wittle doggie! He's adorable, Ruby!" smiled Weiss, completely changing her demeanor at the sight of the cute dog.

Ruby and Blake looked at Weiss like they had seen a ghost as Yang laughed.

"Ruby, are you sure that dog isn't blessed or something? I've never imagined Weiss, of all people, to be a dog person," said Blake.

"Yang, what did you do to Weiss?" asked Ruby.

"Yang didn't do anything to me. I've always liked dogs," Weiss defended herself.

Blake hummed in thought and turned back to Ruby, "Ruby, can I see the picture?"

Ruby nodded and handed Blake her scroll.

"Aw, that is quite cute," said Blake as she smiled fondly.

"What!? I thought you didn't like dogs?" cried Ruby.

"Huh?" said Blake, breaking her vision away from the picture, "I do dislike dogs."

Ruby was confused, "Then why did you-,"

"Hello, Team RWBY!" interrupted Nora as team JNPR finally arrived at the table, "Woah, Weiss! What's up with your face?"

"Nora, we've been over this," replied Weiss.

"No, I mean you were smiling! You never smile!" said Nora, loudly.

Now several students were looking at Weiss. Her miniscule urge to hide was pushed away and she felt her confidence shine through. One by one, she shot an icy gaze at each student, forcing them to look away. She smirked as the last of the students went back to their lunch.

"And, the famous icy gaze is back! Welcome back, Ice Queen," teased Nora.

Weiss shook her head, amused, by the use of her old nickname, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Are you kidding? You were so uncharacteristically shy just last weekend! What happened? Spill the beans, Ice Queen!" interrogated Nora as Ren finally got her to sit down.

Weiss glanced at Yang, who smiled in return, and thought of her answer, "I had fun at a fair in Vale. Oh! And I saw a rather adorable corgi just a second ago."

"What? I want to see a corgi!" said Nora, looking at the team expectantly.

Ruby supplied Nora with her scroll and the picture of the dog, effectively distracting the energetic redhead.

"So, you like dogs," Yang stated as she rested her head on her palm.

"I do," Weiss confirmed.

"You would love Zwei. He looks just like the dog in the picture, as Ruby said, but you need to see him in person to know how awesome he is. Maybe I could get dad to send him here."

"Oh, please do! I would love to meet him," Weiss said as she smiled at Yang.

"Do you have any dogs? You seem to be pretty fond of them."

"I'm afraid not," said Weiss as she rolled her eyes, annoyingly, "My father would not allow any animals in the manor. He would always say they should be kept in the wild, where they belong. I used to think he said that because he respected animals, but he just thinks they are filthy and undeserving of compassion. He loathed the thought of having a dog, of all animals, near us. I don't think I've ever been within ten feet of a dog because of him."

"What?" said Yang, perplexed, "We're going to have to change that sometime."

"Sometime," Weiss giggled.

After breakfast, the girls went through their classes as usual.

Weiss found herself checking her face with her scroll much more sparingly than when she had to worry about her glue peeling.

By the time her morning lectures and lunch was over, the heiress felt like everything would be alright.

Unfortunately, the universe had different plans when she and her team arrived at Professor Goodwitch's class.

While they were walking to their seats, the irritable professor stopped them.

"Ms. Schnee! Ms. Xiao Long!" voiced Goodwitch as she stomped towards them from behind, "The both of you had better have a good reason for…," she trailed off as Weiss and Yang turned to face her, "My goodness, Ms. Schnee. What happened to you?"

Weiss was confused for a moment, "I beg your pardon?"

"You have a scar over your eye, my dear," said the now concerned professor.

"Oh, right. It's sort of a long story," said Weiss as she held her arm shyly.

"I see," said Goodwitch as she studied the girls before her, "As I was saying: You two better have a good reason for missing my class last week," she said, her voice returning to its authoritative roots.

"Uh, well, you see… we were-," began Yang.

"At the dance hall!" Weiss interrupted, "We thought of something that we thought would make the dance more fun for the teachers as well as the students and went to the hall to see where we could implement it," she lied.

"Really? And what might that be?" Goodwitch questioned.

Weiss and Yang looked at each other before Yang thought of something, "Uh… karaoke?"

Goodwich thought on this for a split second before speaking again.

"That does sound rather… interesting. I'm sure the headmaster would find it enjoyable to see his students and a few professors do such a thing," said the woman with a brief smile, "But that does not excuse you both from missing class. I made it unequivocal that you were only to plan the dance in your free time. I should strip you of this privilege."

Weiss couldn't fathom how terrible her day had just gotten. Right when everything seemed to be going her way, something just had to go wrong.

"Wait!" begged Yang, "It was my fault we missed class! I dragged Weiss to the dance hall. She wanted to go to class, but I didn't listen!"

The heiress was shocked by Yang's words. She would sacrifice this privilege so that Weiss could have it? The brawler never ceased to surprise her, but she couldn't let Yang take the fall alone.

"Yang, no. I made the choice to go with you. If this privilege is taken from you, then it should be taken from me as well," said Weiss smiling fondly at Yang.

"It is quite admirable to see how close the two of you have become and I find it of great character that you are willing to take the fall for the other, but rest assured, the privilege is still yours," said the professor, respectfully.

Yang glanced curiously at Weiss and saw that the heiress was just as confused as she was.

"But you just said-," Yang began.

"And you did not let me finish," interrupted Goodwitch, "I said I should take the privilege of designing the dance from you two. Instead, I will settle for a lesser punishment because I have faith that you both with make this dance one to remember. Think of it as a warning."

"Thank you Professor Goodwitch! I promise you, you will not be disappointed!" said Weiss, relieved.

"I'm sure I won't be. See me at the end of the day, after all of your lectures are over. I think it is about time we give the arena a good mopping," said the professor, folding her arms.

"You've got it, Ms. G," said Yang pointing two finger guns at the professor as Weiss cringed.

"Right…," said Goodwitch as she adjusted her half-moon glasses, "Now take your seats, children. Class will begin shortly."

The professor promptly walked away leaving the two girls to find their seats next to Ruby and Blake.

"Finger guns? Ms. G? Really?" chortled Weiss as she smiled up at Yang.

"It sounded cool in my head," shrugged Yang as she blushed with embarrassment.

Weiss giggled sweetly at Yang's response. The laughter was contagious, and Yang couldn't resist joining her for long.

"I was going to ask you guys if you got in trouble or not, but judging by your laughter, I'm assuming you both got off the hook?" asked Blake as the two girls sat down next to her.

"Well, not exactly," Yang said as her laughter subsided.

"We have to mop the arena later today because we missed class last week," explained Weiss.

"Oh yeah. Gosh, that felt like so long ago!" said Ruby from the other side of Blake, "I can't believe just last week you both hated each other and now you're like BFFs!"

"I never hated Yang. I just always overlooked everything great about her," said Weiss.

"Yeah, and we cleared everything up in Vale, so we're on pretty decent terms, I would say," joked Yang.

Weiss rolled her eyes at Yang's antics, "Don't listen to her. This is the best we've ever gotten along."

"We've noticed," chuckled Blake, "Do you need any help with mopping later today? Ruby and I can help you," Blake suggested

"Nah, me and Weiss got it covered," said Yang.

"Weiss and I, Yang," corrected Weiss.

"I knew that," said Yang, waving the heiress off.

"Sure, you did. That's why Weiss had to correct you," Blake chuckled sarcastically.

"Alright, class, listen up! Today's lesson proves to be most crucial for your success as future huntsman and huntresses," said Professor Goodwitch, starting the class.

As she spoke and called students down to spar, Yang's mind would drift to her new end of the day plans. She should be sad or annoyed that she would have to spend her precious free time cleaning up the arena, but instead, she was looking forward to it.

She was obviously not looking forward to the mopping she would have to do, but she was looking forward to spending some time with a certain heiress. Now that Weiss started opening up to her team, Yang had been itching to learn more about the real Weiss, and not the husk of a girl who used to have hopes and dreams and was bitter to everyone who wanted to get close to her. Talking to Weiss now was like talking to an entirely different person, and she was excited to find out how she is when she breaks out of her father's grasp entirely.

Alas, getting some alone time with the heiress would have to wait for the end of the day. For now, she would sit there, in the arena stands, glancing at Weiss every so often. Each time, she would see her with seemingly nothing to hide, as she watched and studied the spar below.

The brawler briefly remembered Weiss' 'vitamins' that she had found a while ago. Yang decided she wouldn't bring them up until she got closer to Weiss for fear of sending her into a relapse: back to being The Ice Queen.

Yang was so deep in thought, she almost had not realized class was over.

"Students! If you did not spar today, be prepared to spar tomorrow! You are dismissed," Professor Goodwitch had said.

Yang was not roused from her stupor until a delicate finger poked her shoulder.

"Yang? Are you ready to leave? We've still got a few lectures before we have to come back here," said Weiss.

"Uh, yeah," said Yang as she stood up from her seat and followed Weiss out of the arena.

For the first time ever, Yang was looking forward to the next time she would be in Goodwitch's room.

The rest of Yang's classes seemed to crawl by much too slowly for her. She was eager to get to the arena, but she was taking care to not show it.

Right now, the team was in their dorm, dropping off their things so they could go on about the rest of their day.

"Okay, Yang. Are you ready to head down to the arena?" asked Weiss, setting her bag on her bed as Ruby climbed into her own.

"Yeah, let's get out of here," Yang said a little too quickly.

"Are you sure you don't want us to help you? We could get it done much faster together," asked Blake.

"Blake, I appreciate you, but we've got it. You can enjoy some free time! This probably won't take long, anyway," said Yang as she opened the door for Weiss.

"Okay, we'll see you guys later," said Blake as she pulled out a book from the shelf and sat down on her bed to read.

Weiss said a quick thank you to Yang as she walked passed her through the door.

When they arrived at the arena, Goodwitch was there waiting for them with two mops in her hands.

"Ah, good," said the professor as she handed them the mops, "I want this floor to be spotless by the time I return. Unfortunately, I have work to do and won't be able to supervise you. I trust that you will get it done."

Without another word, the professor walked out of the room, leaving the girls alone.

Yang thought this day could not get any better.

After a second of silence, Weiss spotted some buckets of water near the door and picked one up, "Well, the floor's not going to mop itself," she said, handing the bucket to Yang.

For the first few minutes of cleaning, the two girls mostly kept to themselves, saying a word or two every so often.

Yang wanted to take the opportunity to get to know Weiss more and ran through all the topics she could bring up in her mind.

She could ask about her father, but that would probably be a very short conversation. Maybe she could bring up her drawing again, but they had done that just yesterday. Would this be a good time to ask about her sister?

Yang briefly stopped mopping and looked over at Weiss who was scrubbing away at a skid mark that didn't seem to want to go away.

"You missed a spot," smirked Yang.

Weiss looked up from the skid and put her hands on her hips, "I'd like to see you try and get rid of it."

"Watch and learn," teased Yang as she put her mop over the skid and scrubbed it as fast as she could until it was gone.

"Ta-da! It's gone!" said Yang, smiling down on Weiss.

"Oh no! You're a better janitor than I am!" teased Weiss as she began mopping again.

"It's a hobby of mine," joked Yang, also resuming her mopping, "What about you? Got any hobbies? Besides drawing, of course."

"Well, I can sing and play a multitude of instruments, but none of that was really my choice. My father was always setting up lessons for me."

Yang bit her tongue at hearing the conversation turn away from her intended goal.

"Do you want to talk about him?" Yang had to ask.

"What else is there to say? He always expected too much from me," said Weiss before changing the subject, "I feel like we always talk about my family now, but I suppose I'm to blame for that. What about you, Yang? What's your family like?"

"For most of my life, it's just been my dad, Ruby, and me. I don't know if you already know this, but Ruby and I are actually half-sisters," explained Yang.

"Oh, I did not know that. But now the fact that you look nothing alike makes perfect sense," said Weiss.

"Yeah, we have the same dad, but different moms. I've never really seen my mom, but Dad says I'm like a perfect mix of the both of them. Ruby, on the other hand, looks just like her mom."

"What happened to your mom?" Weiss asked carefully.

"Dad says she ran off after I was born. He doesn't know why. My uncle doesn't know why. I guess only she knows why."

Weiss stopped mopping, briefly, "I'm sorry to hear that," she said before continuing.

"Ah, it's okay. I got over that a long time ago. Besides, Ruby's mom was a much better mother than mine could ever hope to be. She was so great. She was always so kind and loved me like her own child. She was everything a great huntress should be. She's also responsible for Ruby's cookie addiction," Yang laughed, sadly, "She died when Ruby was a toddler. Ruby was too young to understand that she would never come home, but it really hit me hard. I still miss her…"

Yang stopped mopping and looked at the new boots that Weiss bought her the day prior. It was not long before she saw a drop of water splatter on the ground as she teared up.

Yang sniffled and wiped her eyes as a pair of delicate arms wrapped around her from behind and a warm presence clung onto her back.

It took the brawler a second to realize that Weiss was hugging her, and she relaxed as she felt goosebumps all over her body.

Weiss let go after a second or two and walked around Yang, placing a hand on her arm.

"Thanks," Yang said, smiling at Weiss.

This girl is amazing. Yang walked into the arena with a mop in her hand with the intention of getting to know Weiss better. But the heiress had made her realize that she had not let Weiss get to know her back. And now here she was, being comforted by Weiss after revealing her story to her.

"I small hug is the least I can do after what you've done for me," Weiss said as she picked up her mop and continued mopping.

Yang resumed mopping again and thinking about everything that had happened between them up until this point. She remembered how she felt about the heiress at the start of the year and how drastically differently she thought of her now.

"I'm so glad we were able to get rid of that conflict between us," Yang said, mostly to herself.

"I'm glad too…," Weiss responded, surprising Yang, "I hate that I misjudged you without even thinking to get to know you."

"Everyone does that, it's fine," Yang said, brushing Weiss off.

"But it's not fine!" shouted Weiss, stomping her foot and turning to Yang, "People should know you're not just some dumb blonde."

"And people should know you're not just some stuck-up rich girl," Yang smirked.

Weiss scoffed and smiled, "Stop making me feel good about myself while I'm trying to make you feel good about yourself," she said as she lightly slapped Yang's arm.

"But there's so much to go off of, though," chuckled Yang, "I mean, you're a great artist, super ambitious, and a master swordsman."

"Well, I wouldn't call myself a master," blushed Weiss.

"Don't be humble, Weiss! With the way you handle your rapier, you could fence anyone and win," said Yang as she picked up her mob and held it like a sword.

"Just because I use a rapier doesn't mean I know how to fence," said Weiss, continuing to mop.

"Oh," said Yang, lowering her mop slightly, "But, do you know how to fence?"

Weiss stopped mopping and looked at Yang, "…Yes…"

Yang laughed as she brought the mop up again, "En Garde!"

Weiss smirked at her before dipping her hand in a bucket of clean water and spritzing Yang's face with a few droplets.

"That's an act of war, Weissy," chuckled Yang as she dipped her hand in the same bucket that Weiss did.

Weiss used her mop to keep some distance between them, "Yang Xiao Long, you had better not!" she laughed.

Despite the distance, Yang landed a few drops on her, "I got you!"

Weiss went to the bucket and dipped her hand in it again, thirsty for revenge.

Yang had made it to the other side of the arena when Weiss started to walk over to her.

"Ew! Is that a tooth?!" yelled Weiss as she stopped in her tracks while trying to catch Yang.

"A tooth? Ugh, that's gross!" said Yang walking over to Weiss, "Where is it?"

"Right there," said Weiss pointing to the ground between them.

Yang leaned in closer to where Weiss was pointing, "I don't see a tooth—," she said as Weiss wiped her wet hand on Yang's face. Weiss laughed at Yang sputtered and wiped her face, "You are one sneaky heiress, Weiss."

"No, I think you're just gullible," Weiss teased as she backed away from Yang.

Yang found the bucket and got her hand wet again, "You can't escape me, you know."

"I beg to differ," said Weiss, stepping around the mops they had dropped.

Yang quickly flung some water at Weiss, causing her to move out of the way. Weiss moved to fast and gasped as she slipped on the wet floor.

"Yang!" she cried as she nearly fell on her face.

Luckily, Yang had moved unbelievably fast and caught her.

Weiss looked up and saw Yang looking down at her, those lilac irises trapping her for a second.

The two blushed and hastily separated and Weiss cleared her throat. They tried a glance at each other before quickly looking away again.

Weiss looked over the arena and realized they still had a lot to mop up.

"This punishment was a lot more fun than I expected it to be, but we should really get this over with," said Weiss as she glanced at Yang.

"Yeah, I would hate to not have this done by the time Goodwitch gets back."

"Ditto," said Weiss as she picked up her mop, intent with finishing the job.

To those of you that are worried about this fanfic turning into an only fluff story, all I will say is this: the story isn't over yet! Thank you for reading and please leave a review!