Here we are, here we go.

Cover Art: Terakali

Chapter 10

"I need to have breakfast with my father today."

Sun poked his head out from under the blankets, watching as Weiss hurried about, pulling on a white sundress and collecting her purse and bag. She looked in a foul mood, though Sun was fairly sure it wasn't because of him for once.

"Am I supposed to go with you?"

"No. Thankfully."

He couldn't have agreed more.

"Father will be upset about something. He usually is. I'll be in for chastisement, veiled insults, reproach and, if I'm lucky, breakfast."

"Any idea what he wants?"

"He didn't say." Weiss huffed as she drew out her scroll and checked it. "He never does. Forewarning people only gives them time to prepare and father feels he can gain an upper hand if he keeps the purpose of any given meeting hidden. At least when he wants something."

"And he treats breakfast with his daughter like a business meeting."

"Are you surprised?"

"No. Good luck, I guess?"

"Thank you." Finished, Weiss slipped her feet into a pair of sandals and stomped toward the door. "I shall be back later," she said. "Try to have a fun day if you can. The dance is tomorrow and there will be frustration and pomp aplenty with that."

The door slammed shut behind her.

Sun relaxed the moment it did, finally letting the thin sheets fall on him and expose the noticeable tent in his lower half. "Hate you so much," he grumbled down to it, rolling onto his side. To be fair, it was the morning, Weiss had been up and running around in her night clothes – white hair falling in waves over her pale shoulders – and he'd had a saucy dream about him, Weiss, a beach and nothing else.

And since when do I stare at a girl's shoulders anyway? The hell is wrong with me. Legs, ass and tits were all there – and face, obviously. But he'd found himself oddly captivated by the way she slept with her hair loose, the way it cascaded down and kept getting in her way, forcing her to click or blow it out of her face. Somehow the cutest and most sensual thing he'd ever seen.

If Weiss had realised he'd been awake and watching her sleep, she didn't comment on it – which he appreciated, since he wasn't sure what excuse he would have given without seeming a creepy stalker.

Gods, my life is complicated all of a sudden…

With Weiss gone, Sun lounged out atop the bed with a groan, wondering if he couldn't just hide in the lodge all day and pretend the world didn't exist.

The wall of pillows was knocked aside by one arm and Weiss' side of the bed was still warm with her body heat. It also had her scent; not of flowers, spice or some other overpowering perfume, but something more human. Something that was earthy and yet soft, something undeniably Weiss.

"Fuck my life…" His lower self twitched. "To hell with you as well."

Sleeping in was out of the question. Not unless he wanted to snuggle into Weiss' pillow like some lovesick fool and have to explain that one later. Cold shower. Get dressed. Breakfast. Cold ocean. Lunch. Cold swimming pool and then come back for cold shower, dinner and a cold shower before bed.

Also, maybe drop a bucket of ice down his pants.

"Honestly can't wait for this to be over," he grunted, sitting up and approaching the mirror. He looked like crap. Not the `hungover crap` or even the `I'm an idiot mooning after a girl who doesn't love me crap`, but just the bedhead and stupid expression kind. The look of a man who hadn't woken up on the best side of bed and wanted nothing more than to crawl back in and try again tomorrow.

Still, the sentiment wasn't entirely out of place.

"Things'll be easier back in Beacon. Back where I get to wake up to three sweaty guys and a fight for the shower. No Weiss, no perfume, no warm body sleeping next to me."

In a way he'd miss it, but only in the way an addict missed a drug.

"Chin up, man," he told himself, smiling at the idiot in the mirror. "You've got a date with Blake on the horizon. That's gotta count for something, right?"

Mirror-Sun smiled back, agreeing with him. He looked about as convinced as Sun felt, which was to say not very much at all, but the theory was sound if nothing else. Once him and Weiss had a little distance put between them, he could start thinking with his head and not something a little lower down.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. Grumbling, made his way to the door opening it with a scowl on his face. It died when he saw Weiss' older sister stood there.

Winter Schnee stood with hand on her hip, her hair hanging low behind her back as she wore a bikini and skirt combo, the floral pattern of the skirt reaching down one side of her leg to her knee and split on the other side. A pair of designed sunglasses lay on the edge of her nose as she looked down at him from over the rims. She raised an artful eyebrow at his state of dress and looked down his body, over his bare chest and down to his pyjama bottoms, which he now had both hands locked over desperately.

"Am I… interrupting something?"

Sun choked. "O-Only me about to kill myself out of embarrassment."

Her lips twitched. "Then it's a good reason I decided to come over. I'd like to invite you to breakfast, Sun Wukong. If possible, I'd like to talk to the man who my sister holds in such high regard. Is Weiss here?"

"She was summoned by her father," he answered. "I mean, your father."

"Hm." Winter glanced away, eyes narrowing. "I see. All the more opportunity for the two of us to talk, then. If you are willing."

"Sure. If I can just get ready?"

"Of course. Perhaps you'd meet me outside my lodge in thirty minutes."

"That'd be appreciated."

"Good." Winter nodded and turned to leave, though she paused and looked back over her shoulder. Her eyes looked him up and down before her lips curled almost invisibly up. "I'll leave you to take care of your… little problem."

God damn it.

/-/

Twenty-five minutes later found Sun outside Winter's lodge in a shirt and swimming shorts, freshly washed and with his `little problem` dealt with, at least for now. Coughing, he knocked once on the door and waited for her to answer.

"Sun. Thank you for coming." Winter opened the door wider and gestured for him to enter. "I took the liberty or ordering some breakfast to be delivered. We can share it out on the veranda."

The food was already there judging by the smell. He spotted it on Winter's bed and went to collect it himself, earning a small `thank you` from her. Winter's room was a lot tidier than their own, and although Sun would admit to being the messy one out of the two of them, Weiss was still less tidy than Winter was. The bed was made to the standard a housekeeper would struggle to keep, while the floors, walls and surfaces practically shone. There wasn't a single article of clothing on the floor, nor even a glass of water on the side.

"Military life enforces strict discipline," Winter explained. "That extends to cleanliness as well as general life."

Jumping, Sun flushed. "I didn't mean to look."

"It's fine. I take no offence at being recognised for a clean room." Brushing by him, Winter opened the balcony window and pulled the curtains back. "Come, we shall eat out here with the fresh sea breeze and sun. I hope you don't mind being away from the restaurants."

"Not at all. I prefer it."

"I thought you might. The people here are not entirely welcoming of faunuskind."

Sun flushed. He didn't think anyone else had realised. "Yeah. You don't seem bothered by it."

"I might have been when I was younger," Winter admitted, sitting down and taking a small piece of toasted bread in hand. "Please, help yourself." He did so. "When I was younger, father did not create the best environment in which to appreciate the faunus, and attacks by the White Fang did not help."

"Bunch of creeps," he agreed.

"Yes. Criminals no matter their cause. Regardless, when I joined the military, Ironwood made it a requirement that I get over any problems I might have with faunus. There were few of them in the army at that time, but General Ironwood has tried his hardest to incorporate faunus into command positions, the better to earn the community's trust."

"He sounds like a good man."

"He is," Winter said, and there was a note of genuine admiration there. "But I did not call you here to talk about General Ironwood, or myself."

"Kinda figured that one out. Weiss, right?"

"Yes. I know that your position as Weiss' boyfriend is a temporary one born of necessity. I believe the two of you were distant friends before?"

"More associates. I'm a friend of Weiss' teammate. Or I think I am. Hope I am," he grumbled. Blake had never said, even after all the things they'd been through. Straight after the White Fang issue, she'd been too busy making up with her team to even acknowledge how he'd risked his life. "But Weiss and I are friends now. We're closer than we used to be."

"That is good. Weiss needs good friends." Winter sipped at some orange juice, watching him with her sharp blue eyes. "Would I be correct in saying that you wish to be more than friends with her, however?"

Sun's heart skipped a beat. "No. You'd be wrong."

"There is no need to lie to me, Sun. Anything said here is said in confidence. I've seen the way you look at her, and the way she looks back. I don't mean to push you, and I assure you that I have no issue with your courtship of her, but I would have it said."

"There's not much to say…" Sun sighed. "Fine. Maybe I do like her that way, but we've talked about it. It's out in the open. Weiss knows how I feel and doesn't return my feelings."

Winter's eyes narrowed. "Did she say that?"

"Yes."

"Did she say those words?"

He couldn't remember. The actual words used were vague and jumbled in his head, buried behind the hurt and the disappointment. He shrugged helplessly and took a bite of apple, refusing to say any more.

Winter understood. Nodding, she ate a little herself, allowing the two of them to sit in near silence, listening to the water lap against the wooden poles holding up the veranda, and the occasional splash of a small fish's fin catching the surface.

"Weiss' situation is difficult," Winter eventually said.

"I know. Trapped between her dad and the Metelia family."

"Not just that. It is not limited to what you see here. Weiss is the heiress of the SDC; a position of responsibility that I forced upon her." Winter's eyes were closed, a glass of orange juice cupped between both hands. "In my selfishness, I shirked the responsibility and left to pursue my own dreams. As the next eldest, it fell onto her, and has dogged Weiss' life ever since."

"Every action she takes, every move that she makes; it is all watched and judged. If not by father, then by anyone else in business. Even her decision to attend Beacon caused a stir in Atlas; accusations both that she cared not for the SDC and that Jacques had lost what little control he had of his children. Made worse because of my previous disinheritance."

"I know she's got things tough."

"You do not know how tough she has it. At times, she must make decisions she hates. Must speak kindly to those she would rather lambast and ignore those she would like to spend time with. Events like this are not unusual, nor is it out of the ordinary for her to be expected to show interest in someone such as Azure."

"Even if she doesn't want to?"

"Business is business, Sun. Few people want to work for a living. We do it because we must."

"Yeah, but Weiss isn't employed by the SDC."

"No. But she benefits from it. She has spent its money, lived in its splendour and called herself heiress time and time again. I do not defend father's methods – in fact, I abhor them – but Weiss has tied herself to the SDC and must play the part if she wishes to keep things that way. In a sense, she is employed by the SDC and has been since she was young. Jacques is her boss before he is her father; a sentiment I am sure it is easy for you to see in him."

Yeah. No kidding. Jacques and father didn't go in the same sentence, and he didn't even have a father to draw experience from. It all sounded stupid to him. Kids were kids, not employees. He had a feeling Winter knew since she was giving him that look, but she didn't try to make him understand. In the end, it was probably just important that he knew it, whether he accepted it as fair or not.

"How does this tie into me?"

"As an asset of the SDC, Weiss does not have the freedom to pursue her dreams however she might wish. She has some freedom, so long as what she does has no impact on the SDC, but father always holds the ultimate influence over her, the threat of disinheritance."

"And you're saying that being with me would get her kicked out."

"It is quite possible."

"How is that fair!?" Sun scowled. "Or is this your way of saying I shouldn't try. You don't have to. Weiss already decided for me."

"It's not and I would not say such a thing. Little about this situation is fair, but then, this is a chain that Weiss allows to be placed on herself. She is determined to remain a part of the SDC and take it over, which forces her to avoid the fate I received."

"It's her dream to fix the SDC," he said. "Turn it into something better."

"Yes. It is a big dream." Winter sighed. "A terrible dream."

Sun bristled at her words. "It's Weiss' dream," he snapped defensively. "Don't you think you should be encouraging it and not looking down on her?"

"Would you encourage someone you love to place their hand in a Grimm's mouth? This is little different."

"How you figure? Changing the SDC is a big thing. If she managed that, she'd be helping a lot of people. Her name might go down in history. The faunus would adore her. Hell, most people would. No offence, but the SDC name is hated across a lot of Kingdoms. Weiss fixing it would mean a lot."

"Yes. People often adore those who solve their problems for them – even more so when they sacrifice their happiness to do it." Winter's tone was scathing. "The SDC is a problem of father's making. His and the Board's. That Weiss takes it upon her own shoulders when she does not have to speaks well of my sister but promises a long and painful future. Even assuming she succeeds, where do you believe this will place her? The faunus may remember her, yes, but will that make her happy? Will a future where she has had to live under father's control satisfy her?" Winter's eyes met his. "Will her choosing to marry Azure – or someone like him – just to benefit the SDC, satisfy her? Will it satisfy you?"

Sun looked away. His chest felt tight. He could easily imagine an older Weiss, a respected and beloved figure who changed the SDC from within. What he imagined, though, was a woman professionally successful. Not necessarily someone happy.

He also couldn't see himself standing beside her.

"Exactly." Winter said. "Weiss is faced with a choice. She can either swallow her pride and accept that she must find another route to her ambition and be happy. Or she can forsake happiness forever and live under father's commands. In time, she might have the opportunity to fulfil her ambition, but in doing so she will lose out on much more."

"If it's what she wants, though…"

"Is it what she wants, Sun? Or is it what she feels she must do? Or worse, is it what others want of her? As an apology to the faunus. To redeem a family name. To make up for her father's mistakes. Does any of that matter? The faunus who are hurt would be just as happy with the SDC gone. The Schnee name can fade into obscurity for all I would care. And father? Let him fix his own problems. Why should Weiss or I be made to do any of those things?"

"You shouldn't," he said, and paused. Weiss' dream was something she didn't always mention but it was there. Even with the SDC's reputation what it was, she still introduced herself proudly. Like the name meant something; like she wanted it to mean something.

Blake pushes her to do what she can for the faunus, he realised. Blake's heart is in the right place but asking Weiss to fix what her father did. That's not fair. Was Blake pressuring Weiss without realising it? Was everyone? Why should Weiss have to be the one to fix everything?

She was miserable here; he didn't have to be psychic to know it. Weiss hated everything about this fake holiday, the Metelia family and everything else. Every meeting she went to, every dress fitting or social event was done with such reluctance, such frustration, that he wondered how she hadn't snapped and killed someone already.

He knew it. Weiss knew it. Winter knew it.

And yet she continued to take part.

"Is it really right to suggest someone give up their dream, though?"

"I do not know." Winter looked away briefly, eyes narrowing as she gazed out over the ocean. "That is a question I struggle with. If I push the issue, do I become the monster for forcing my will on my sister? If I ignore it, am I condemning my sister to unhappiness? Are all dreams good dreams? If someone's ambition becomes to harm themselves or worse, is it not right to intervene and try to help them?"

"Yeah. I guess…"

"Then is it not right to intervene in a good dream that may lead someone to ruin?"

He didn't have an answer.

Blake's ambition was a little similar, wasn't it? She wanted to fix the White Fang, to singlehandedly stop them, and while that was a worthwhile ambition, it had nearly gotten her killed. Him, too. After, Yang had worked her ass off to try and get Blake to quit it. Did that make her an asshole? Sun didn't think so.

"I guess it depends on the intent," he said carefully. "And how you go about it. If you're trying to do something for their benefit, then there's nothing wrong with that."

"Indeed." Winter's nails tapped on her glass. "Sadly, Weiss is stubborn and refuses to listen to me. She believes her aspiration just – which it is – but she cannot, or perhaps refuses, to see what it will lead to in the short-term. If she must please father until the day he hands control over to her, then she will be his slave for the next twenty years at least. He may allow her some small freedom, but the greatest decisions in life will never be hers to make."

Sheesh. Sun tried to take a drink but found his hand wouldn't respond. It was shaking too much. He wanted nothing more than to run across the resort, find Weiss and drag her away from all of this. Drag her away and convince her to be his.

But then, Weiss wasn't some damsel in distress. She didn't need him to rescue her, and the only one keeping her locked up in some tower was herself. Weiss was trapped in a prison of her own making; the only control Jacques had over her being the control she granted him.

There was nothing he could do to save her, and worse, he'd promised to stand by and help her on this doomed voyage of hers, sacrificing his own happiness at the same time. Sure, he could move on. Find someone else to love. Maybe it would be Blake; maybe it still was Blake. He didn't know.

He just didn't know.

"I don't mean to tell you any of this with the intent to have you change it," Winter said, reaching over to touch his hand gently. Her eyes told him she'd seen his reaction, seen his anger. "In fact, I would not even mention it to Weiss were I you. She is committed to her goal and painfully stubborn. I fear that if she heard the words from you, she would lash out and hurt you unintentionally. And, in doing so, hurt herself by losing you."

Sun swallowed and nodded. "I get it. That does sound like her. Why tell me, then? Why tell me if there isn't a thing I can do about it?"

"So that you might understand. I have tried my hardest, but Weiss is the only one who can decide for herself what she truly wants. It may be that she chooses her ambition over you, hurting you deeply. It is my hope – nay, it is my humble request – that you understand her reasons for this. That you stand by her as a friend, even if what you have is not what either of you truly desire. It is also my hope you can move on after and remain friends. I apologise if what I have told you hurts in some way; I believe you needed to know, however."

"I… I won't let this come between us if that's what you mean. I won't let my feelings ruin a good friendship."

"I am relieved to hear it. I realise this is not an easy conversation to have."

It wasn't.

"What do you think she should do?" he asked.

"I think she should ask herself what she wants," Winter said. "Not what everyone else wants of her. In the end, those expecting her to give up her personal happiness to stop the SDC's treatment of faunus workers are acting no differently than our father. They are demanding she do what they want out of misplaced obligation. In the end, Weiss' wishes are never considered. She is simply a Schnee; a means to an end."

Sun swallowed and put his food down. He didn't feel so hungry anymore.

/-/

"You will be going to the dance with Azure."

"That has not yet been decided. Azure is a fine gentleman, but it would be scandalous of me not to attend with my date, Sun. That said, I am willing to dance and interact with Azure at the event." Weiss thought she was being fairly mature, not refusing her father outright but offering a veiled compromise instead. Her problem, she decided, was that she'd forgotten that her father could be anything but.

Sat at a private breakfast, Jacques was free to display the pettiness which had made him what he was today and glowered at her for daring to disagree with anything he'd said. If she'd had her way, she wouldn't be interacting with him at all, but one did not forego a summons from the head of the Schnee family.

Not if she wanted to remain a part of it, and in line to take over the SDC.

"It's time to stop playing games, Weiss. I have indulged you enough with this farce."

"What farce, father?"

Jacques leaned forward, hands upon the table. "We both know that this boy is little more than a shield. You may think yourself cunning, but it is as obvious to me as it is anyone else. You had no such relation at Beacon, nor in Atlas, and the first anyone hears of it is your arrival here."

"We wanted to keep it quiet."

"Do not insult my intelligence."

Weiss scowled.

"Your rebellious nature does you no credit and embarrasses the family name, not to mention it makes me look the fool to have suggested a union when my daughter is with another man. This has a knock-on effect on our reputation on an international scale."

That would be his problem, surely? Weiss did not say it. Jacques could very easily make it her problem.

"I have put up with this because I thought I might give you a chance to be mature, to prove that you are deserving of the Schnee name."

"I am deserving."

More than you, she thought.

"Are you? I have yet to see the evidence. You tarnish our name-"

"The name is already tarnished. Many speak of the SDC with bile in their tone, while an entire people rebel against us. None of this was true before you took over."

Jacques moved quickly – though not so quickly that she could not have dodged if she wanted to. She did not, turning her head to the side as his hand struck her cheek. Dodging would only make him angrier.

"The SDC would have died long ago were it not for me." Jacques' face was red, and he hissed his words. "I am the sole reason you have the life you have, the education you have, the manor, your sister, your career. Everything. Do not dare to lecture me on my business acumen when you have shown none. You're as idealistic and foolish as your grandfather."

"He was loved by everyone."

"For dragging his own company into the dirt! He was loved for giving away, for fixing everyone's problems so that they wouldn't have to put the effort in to fix their own. Do you think he would have been beloved when his business crashed, and the handouts ceased? Do you believe anyone he helped would have stepped in to help your mother? No! Once the generosity ceases, so too does the people's regard for you. Nicholas Schnee was a failure of a businessman. Any idiot can throw money away and drive a business into the ground. Styling yourself after him does you no favours."

"I have never had a chance to show my business skill."

Jacques snorted. "Through no choice of mine, Weiss. It is you who decided to run off to Beacon and play huntress. You may delude yourself into thinking I have kept you out of the family business, but it is you who chose to leave. Had you stayed, you might be having that chance right now. Or did you think I would keep you around the house as some ornament? That I have allowed you to remain heiress at all is a sign of my patience, not some hidden potential within you." His eyes narrowed. "And my patience runs thin, Weiss. More so with your recent actions."

Weiss glared back. "And I'm to fix it by spreading my legs for the first boy you put before me?"

"Do not be so crass. I did not come to force you into marrying the brat, only to show respect to his family in giving him the opportunity to woo you. The decision was always yours; though, I am beginning to think I gave you too much credit there."

"The Metelia family have been insulted gravely," he continued. "They have shown much generosity not only in allowing the deal to continue but accommodating both you and your `friend`. They came expecting a meeting between Azure and you, with the potential for more, and now believe that I misled them. This insult will stain the Schnee name."

"If you had asked me if I were single, I could have told you…"

"What? That you are, but you have no interest? That your career means more – even as you profess your desire to take over the company once I retire? Why should I trust the SDC to someone who has another dream before it?"

"You would give it to Whitley, then?"

"Should I not? He is not as cunning as you I will admit, but he would give the SDC his full attention; something you have shown you cannot. He would know better than to play games that damage the company's reputation. He would not claim to be the heir with one hand, and then abandon all duty to play huntsman with the other."

Weiss swallowed. Though she hated to admit it, her father did have a point about her not being as committed to the SDC as she could have been. Coming to Beacon had been an act of rebellion in itself; an attempt to escape him. Bringing Sun here had been another, and apparently one too many.

"If your relationship with the boy were real, I might hesitate to enforce this, but it is clearly not. I have asked in Vale and it is known that you are single."

"You spied on me!?"

"The media did." There was not a hint of apology in his voice. "It was not difficult for me to buy and bury the story of your coming here before a scandal could hit. Did you think Weiss Schnee appearing with a faunus on her arm would not draw attention?"

She hadn't considered it, too busy trying to escape what felt like an arranged marriage.

"Fool. This is precisely why you are not ready to make your own decisions. You claim to want more freedom and responsibility, but all you achieve with it is causing the company more and more trouble. Bad enough you were not made team leader-"

"I didn't-"

"But to also cause this?" Jacques boomed, speaking over her. "The only reason I have not disinherited you already is because the competition you provide inspires Whitley to work harder. If he felt there was no one in his way, he might slack and become idle." His lips peeled back. "Do not think for a moment that your position is safe, Weiss. The title of heiress is a position earned, not granted."

Her hands tightened under the table. She wanted nothing more than to stand, throw her glass of water into his face and storm away – and damn whatever he said in return. But if she did that, she'd lose her position. The SDC would never be reformed. She'd fail Blake and every other faunus out there.

Slowly, she lowered her head. "What is it you want, father?"

"I want you to stop this petty rebellion. To stop acting like it is me you need to rebel against. If you truly do not want to do this, say so. I will strip the position of heiress from you and you will be free to pursue whatever goals you wish."

Weiss' face paled. "N-No."

"No? You put my in a difficult spot, Weiss. What is it you want? You want to remain heiress but have no responsibility and galivant off in Vale fighting the Grimm? You want to take over after me, but wish to put no effort into it?"

He scoffed. "You act as though it is I who holds you back, when the truth is that you are the one who desires this position. The only one you are rebelling against is yourself, hence why your recent actions are the height of immaturity. And is that even fair to your brother who does wish to be heir, and who does wish to be a part of the company? Who wants to prove himself? Is it fair to constantly deny him that chance because his older sister – who runs around having her own fun – still wants to keep the power and the influence?"

"That's not…"

"It's not what, Weiss? Not fair?" Jacques leaned forward. "Tell me how it isn't fair. Tell me how I am asking too much in asking you to at least act like the future leader of the Schnee Dust Corporation that you claim to be."

Weiss' head lowered.

"You to ask Azure to this dance. You will spend time with him, you will agree to date him and cease this facade with your little faunus boytoy, and, if all goes well, you may make the decision yourself on whether to let it progress to marriage. I care not what the result is. You are the one who would need to live with him. Regardless, you will go through the motions until this deal is fulfilled."

Weiss bit her lip. She felt sick. Sick, weak and helpless.

"Am I understood, Weiss?"

"Yes father…"

"Good."

/-/

Weiss stepped out of the restaurant and onto the poolside area. Her expression calm, her head held high, her face serene. At least on the outside. As she made her way back to the lodge, she paused on the steps leading down onto the beach to watch as a woman crept up on a sunbathing man and dropped cold ocean water on his chest. He yelped, stood and chased the happily shrieking woman across the beach, eventually catching and drawing her in for a heated kiss.

The woman wrapped her arms around his neck. Their friends laughed, cheered and hooted at one another. Others watched on, smiling or simply enjoying the sight.

Swallowing, Weiss turned away from the happy scene.

/-/

Sun stood on his own veranda looking out over the ocean. The pristine waters glistened as far as they eye could see, reflecting the bright sunlight to dazzle and blind. A few fish swam lazily beneath the veranda, enjoying the shade, while birds circled high above, looking for prey.

Simple. Serene. Peaceful. The ocean made sense. It didn't think, lie or make matters more complicated than they had to be. It simply was.

The door opened behind him and Weiss called out a greeting. Tight, controlled, fake. The complete neutrality of her tone betrayed her mood just as much as it would have if she'd punched her hand through the mirror.

Hiding his feelings, Sun turned away from the clear ocean.

/-/

Azure watched as the birds lazily twisted through the air, ducking and diving in the currents, spreading their wings wide and gliding through the open sky. Mistralian Red-Tails. An endangered species, though one that had found a home here. He envied them that.

There was a knock on the door a moment before it entered.

"Azure." his mother called. "Azure, where are-? There you are. Wasting your time watching the birds again? Sometimes I wonder about you. Never mind, I have wonderful news!"

He spoke without turning around. "What is it, mother?"

"I've spoken to Mr Schnee and he's said that Weiss and Sun have broken up and that she wants to go to the dance tomorrow with you. Isn't that wonderful?"

Azure's fingers clenched the banister. "Wonderful…" he whispered.

"Yes, yes, I know. Took the little girl long enough, but I suppose it takes time for someone to realise what's best for them. Come, come. We need to check your suit one more time, and then have your hair cut. I've also had Schwarz come from Mistral to help teach you to waltz, dear. I know you're proficient, but you need to make a splash tomorrow." Millennia paused. "Well, dear? Come on. You don't have all day to stand there watching the birds. Hurry now."

Slowly, Azure stepped away from the railing, never once taking his eyes off the elegant birds dancing in the sky. He longed to join them.

Plastering a smile he didn't feel onto his face, Azure turned away from the open sky.

So, in the first draft of this I somewhat ruined the serious tone at the end of this chapter by saying "Azure watched as the birds lazily twisted through the air, FUCKING and diving" instead of ducking and diving.

Would have had a very different tone if I'd left that in. lol.

Ooh, Azure, you perv.

Next Chapter: 19th February

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur