The aroma of medium rare roast beef could be smelled from the houses across the street. Weiss weaved in and around the kitchen, tongs in one hand and pepper grinder in the other, deftly operating the stovetop like a surgeon. The kitchen was almost shockingly clean and orderly, two words not typically associated with the heiress whenever she decided to be in charge of kitchen duties. The past few months of relative peace had allowed her to practice without snarky and snide comments from her peers which, while she would never admit to it, actually put large dents on her confidence in the culinary arts.

Here, living alone with her best friend who guided her through every culinary success and mishap, she had improved to a respectable degree. She basted the meat on the pan with its juices before poking it to see how cooked the meat was. The meat was a bright pink on the inside with juices flowing out, meaning it was time to put the beef in the oven for the final push into that juicy medium rare finish with a crisp peppered crust. Weiss had found the recipe in one of old piles of papers that had belonged to Ruby's mother inside the room she was using and, with the blessing of Ruby, decided to try her hand at making it.

The first few attempts were of course indisputable disasters as expected. The first attempt resulted in the fire department making a call asking if they needed help as neighbors noted black smoke coming out of their windows. The second attempt meant that they didn't need to use dust for the fireplace, learning firsthand how to turn protein into charcoal. The third attempt looked edible until they got diarrhea for the following 3 days. The fourth attempt was edible with no gastrointestinal issues, albeit overcooked and sinewy. This was her fifth attempt, and so far it was going well.

Ruby had offered to help her with this attempt but she declined, mentioning how she was confident with her ability and that she wanted to be able to do this herself. Ruby peeked into the kitchen and saw that it was still mostly orderly, breathing a sigh of relief. She was usually the one who had to clean as Weiss had a love-hate relationship with cleaning tools. She felt confident that Weiss would succeed.

After all, Winter was coming for a day visit.

The roast done, Weiss took out the savory slab of beef and placed it on the counter. The outer layer was as crisp as can be, overflowing with juices, and the meat itself was tender. She knew she had cooked it perfectly. Weiss was more confident with her knife skills than with her cooking, so she carefully made sliced the meat. Beside her were two pairs of foot long bread cut lengthwise with a bed of lettuce and tomatoes smothered in light sour cream on each. She carefully placed slices of beef on each half and topped them off again with a generous dollop of sour cream. She wrapped the two roast beef sandwiches in wax paper and placed them in an old school picnic basket that used to belong to Ruby, who never actually used it since she never leaves the house. Over the sandwiches were two thermoses of chamomile tea, taught to her by Blake.

"You sure you don't need me to come?"

Weiss put on her jacket and headed for the door.

"It's ok. My sister said we shouldn't attract unwanted attention for the time being. That and she'd only be here for one day. She should be arriving soon."

"I see. Well then don't forget, take the bus to the church and it's a short walk down the hill to the landing pad. Can't miss it."

"Thanks. See you later."

Weiss walked out the door with basket in hand. Ruby saw her out the front door and waved from the porch as Weiss boarded the bus that had just arrived. Ruby went back in the room and cleaned up the remains of the mess that Weiss left on the kitchen counter. It was a lot less than it used to be, she thought to herself. With the house all clean, she sat down on the couch for a rest and opened the viewer.

"Unwanted attention huh..."

If all this madness finally ends...

Weiss stood in front of the arrival area of the landing pad, eagerly awaiting for her sister. A passenger craft with Atlas markings slowly descended on the main pad. Crowds of people exited the craft in file, which is rather typical of an Atlas citizen. Last to exit was a young woman with white hair wearing sunglasses and a leather overcoat. Weiss thought to herself that while such a getup would usually stop people from recognizing you, it also tends to attract prying eyes. Given Winter's relative lack of subtlety, she knew on the spot that was her.

"Good morning sister."

"Long time no see, Weiss."

Weiss instinctively gave her sister a big hug. Winter was taken aback by Weiss' uncharacteristic forwardness, but hugged her back anyway. Both ladies walked down the platform and back out of the arrival area to the street. Winter surveyed the area around her, noting how the place was still as laid back and rural as she remembered in childhood. She took a large breath of air, air much cleaner than in a typical military complex in Atlas.

"I can see why you chose to come here. A peaceful place like this can calm even the most troubled hearts."

"Yes. Well... that's not the only reason."

A short stroll up the slope brought them to a small park that Ruby said was a good place for a meal. The park had a lot of kids running around with toy weapons. It was common for kids to play Huntsmen and Grimm games, as some parents like to start their kids young. Regardless of the danger, the path of the Huntsman was seen to be an honorable profession. Boys and girls, human and Faunus alike played, alternating roles and generally having a good time. The sisters sat down on a bench under a large oak tree, overlooking the kids enjoying their weekend. Weiss poured Winter a cup of tea to help warm up.

"So sister... what brings you hear? You sent me a letter when you could have just called me. I mean if you wanted to talk you could always call."

"You know how it is. Despite the lull in media attention there's always something or someone trying to get the next big tabloid item on our family. Plus... is there anything wrong with wanting to see my baby sister?"

"That is... err..."

Weiss blushed as Winter took a sip of tea. She smiled at its refreshing taste and scent, having had the same kind of tea a few years back when Blake came and made them some. She smiled at her sister as she enjoyed the view with her tea. The mix of the tea, the cool country air and the peaceful view calmed her in a way she hadn't felt since the start of her family's demise.

"Anyway sister... how's mother? Didn't she want to come?"

"She's been... how you say... pretty indisposed as of late. I know you left a lot of the issues regarding the turnover to your friend Ms. Belladonna who by the way is one of the most capable women I've ever seen, but mother herself chose to be more active in the turnover."

"She did? I guess that's better than being stuck in your house all day."

"True enough. More than that though is that she's been going to see father almost every other day since he's been allowed visitors. It's quite a long way by public transport to the prison, and it worries me how she comes home tired a lot during those trips."

"I see... well... how about you sister?"

Winter poured herself another cup of tea. Weiss had started unpacking the sandwich she made.

"As the family's de facto face to the media, I'm actually quite thankful that the attention we're getting has died down. Allows me to concentrate on my duties in the army as well as take care of mother. We should actually stop talking about me and mother. How about you sister, how is life out here?"

Weiss was so excited to see her sister that she had let her tea cool to lukewarm. She put down the sandwich and had a cup to calm her nerves. She had not seen her sister for a few months.

"Well... I managed to renew my Huntsman license and actually took a position at Signal Academy teaching Dust subjects. Using an alias, of course, with help from Ruby's father."

"Oh? So you ended up moving in with your ex?"

Weiss bit her lip at her slip of the tongue. She had wanted to avoid mentioning Ruby as she had actually refrained from telling her family who she was living with. Winter had her own suspicions since Weiss did choose to come to Patch, and now her suspicions were confirmed.

"And she took you in? None of that usual past history friction?"

"No actually. She not that kind of girl. She's... much better than that."

Weiss had a wide smile on her face as she refilled her tea. It was a smile that even the densest of people could see right through, and Winter was as dense as any straight-laced career military officer could be.

"You were... never really the type to make friends. It is good you maintained more than one close friendship after Beacon. I was worried you'd end up living alone here like a hermit."

"Sister!"

Winter had a good laugh while she unpacked the sandwich that Weiss had made. The cream oozed from the sides as Winter had a big bite of its meaty goodness. Her face was an expression of shock, both on how good the beef was and the fact that Weiss had made this herself. She savored every bit of that first bite.

"To think that just a few months ago you couldn't even make your way in the kitchen without breaking something. The chefs would you usually beg mother to get you out. This is a very... surprising turn of events."

Weiss had a bite of her own sandwich and was also pleasantly surprised on how good it turned out. She actually didn't have time to taste it before she left, and relied only on her gut that she had finally made it right.

"Ruby taught me. Took a few tries with the fire department almost getting involved, but I practiced hard."

"Oh? And what else did she teach you?"

"Let's see..."

Weiss got up and started making some ground sweeping motions in front of her sister.

"She taught me how to clean and work that infernal thing called a vacuum cleaner. In fact I managed to clean the house solo the other day while she was teaching a late class."

Weiss pointed at her blouse, which shimmered a white glow in the high noon sun.

"I learned how to do laundry, using a washing machine of course. I washed this blouse I'm wearing myself!"

Weiss stood proud at her self-proclaimed achievement that winter herself had to learn in the military academy.

"I learned how to take the bus... how to choose the freshest ingredients in a market... Oh and she's teaching me how to ride a motorcycle!"

"A motorcycle? You? Aren't you terrified of those things?"

"Not on the large roads of course. Just on the driveways around her house."

"I... see... she's helping you a lot?"

"Yeah... to be honest I don't think I'd have lasted this long without her."

"You owe her a lot huh?"

Weiss looked towards the field of countless playing children. She took a sip of her tea as she gazed at the wonderful views before her.

"Yeah..."

Winter's expression changed from that of calm serenity to that of seriousness. She gestured for Weiss to sit. Weiss noticed the change in her expression and realized that they were going to have a serious conversation.

"Weiss... I have to ask. I'll be blunt. Why did you choose to come here to her?"

Weiss bowed down and looked at her reflection in her tea. The tea leaves floated up and down in the warm water slowly.

"She was... the only one I could count on. She was the only one who really knew what was going on with our family. I just thought that... maybe... she'd understand and at least let me stay for a few days. I didn't think she'd let me stay almost indefinitely."

"Is that it?"

"Well... outside our family she's the closest person to me I've ever had. Even though we broke up on rather... unpleasant terms... I believed to my core that she'd still be that kindhearted person that I... loved. No matter what the weight of my sin."

"Sister... that is... a very selfish thing to say."

Weiss didn't even flinch at Winter's rather cold reply. She had been expecting a reply like that from someone for a long time because she knew and admitted to herself that it was true. She knew she was selfish.

"You said you left her to spare her from what is happening to our family. And yet you are here, living with her, and the longer you stay means the higher the chance she will get involved."

"I know... I just... I don't have..."

"Sister..."

Winter placed her hand on her sister's head. She brought Weiss face and placed it on her soulder. Weiss was starting to feel like crying.

"Weiss... you never were very good at being honest. You need to be honest to yourself before you can be honest to others. Ask yourself. What is the real reason you came here?"

"The real... reason..."

Before she could answer, Winter's scroll started to ring.

Ruby cozily lay on the sofa having a bag of chips and the left over cream sauce that Weiss had made. The screen showed nothing but reruns all day and now she was bored as bored can be. As she righted herself to look for something to have for lunch her scroll rang.

"Yo sis!"

"Yang?"

Yang, who was pretty much a travelling Huntress now with no real base of operations, had a habit of calling out of the blue after sometimes being out of contact for weeks and even months. This was in fact the first time she had called back Ruby since Weiss had moved in, a fact that of course Ruby would have to hide from Yang as Yang was still resentful of Weiss despite all the years that passed.

"You finally call after all these months? Father was worried about you!"

"Well you know the signal's bad out in the boonies. Took a bunch of missions deep in the mountains and forests and all that. Actually I only managed to call because I'm n Mistral!"

"Mistral? I thought you hated that place."

"I do. Sort of. Decided to have a short break after Blake said she'd be here."

"Blake's in Mistral?"

"Yeah! Turns out she's helping distribute the Schnee company's assets to the Faunus organizations here. Wouldn't expect any less of Blakey."

Ruby of course already knew what Blake was up to as Weiss had already told her. She couldn't tell Yang though, because doing so would make it obvious she was in contact with Weiss.

"Anyway it's just about damn time the Schnee's got what's coming to them. Maybe this'll teach that princess a lesson in humility."

Ruby suddenly felt her blood boil. Even though Yang didn't know any better and certainly wasn't privy to the truth to what Weiss had been doing, she a measure of anger at Yang's insinuation.

"What... makes you say that Yang?"

"Blake told me that their house got repossessed and that the company was being chopped up and distributed. I mean I concede to leaving them a bit of their fortune, but this was really a long time coming. You should have seen Blake's face when she informed her fellow Faunus that change was coming. Her ears twitched like there was no tomorrow, and she only did that when she's happy."

The change in subject helped calm Ruby down. She didn't know what she'd have done if Yang carried on with that previous train of thought.

"Seriously though I can't believe Weiss would leave you just to end up like that. She chose poorly."

Ruby had spoken to soon. She could feel her blood pump and boil again. Yang was really pushing it now.

"I mean remember when she said she didn't know how she'd explain to her family she was dating you? It's kind of obvious she took the easy way out. Now karma's biting her in the a-"

"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!"

Ruby's angry screech could be heard in the house across the street. Her voice rang in Yang's ears, surprising her. It was rare for Ruby to raise her voice.

"Ruby you don't have to shout! Also what's not like what?"

Ruby sat down and took some of the left over tea to calm herself down. There was no use getting angry like this.

"Sorry Yang… just… like I said Weiss wasn't like that?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Weiss… we had a talk about the reason why she had to go, just before she left for home. Everything we've been seeing in the news, back then and even now, she said she wanted to protect me from them. She said that if people knew what we were… then I'd be dragged into it."

"And what exactly would people want to do with you? You aren't exactly famous… well not back then anyway."

"You've seen the news Yang. All those reporters following them everywhere. Even those ambushes where company members were killed. If I stayed with her…"

Ruby could feel her eyes well up a little.

"Ruby… did Weiss ever ask you how you felt about it? Because is sssuuurreee felt like a one sided decision to me."

"I…"

"Look sis… let me say it straight. Would you have gladly faced all that with her?"

"I… yes… yes I would."

"But she didn't even bother asking you, did she?"

"… No."

"That's because she probably didn't even bother to ask how you felt. She was selfish. She was selfish then, probably still selfish now."

"Yang…"

"Ruby… if that girl didn't even bother to care about how you felt, then she wasn't worth your time, and still isn't worth it now."

"…"

"Ruby… sorry. I'm being too blunt and we've only managed to talk again after so long…"

"No… it's fine Yang. Gave a bit to think about. Still…"

"What?"

Ruby sighed a big sigh and drank the last of her tea. She closed the viewer and went out to the porch. She sat on one of the chairs outside.

"Even if she never asked me how I felt, or whether or not I was willing to be part of her world that was eventually going to fall down, I… still believe deep down inside that she was still putting me above everything."

"Huh? How?"

"Face it Yang. The three of you know me more than I know myself sometimes. If she brought up those issues and tried to be careful around my feelings, then she'd know there was no way she'd stop me from joining her. Looking back… treating me the way she did… it was the only way to shock me enough to stop me from going after her…"

"… Even if she broke you in the process?"

"I managed to fix myself up pretty well enough, don't you think?"

Yang, all the way in Mistral, couldn't muster a proper response.

"What's done is done Yang."

"Ruby… do you still love her?"

"…"

The sound of a taxi's engine could be heard coming up the road, breaking the silence that permeated after Yang's query. Ruby could see Weiss' silhouette inside the vehicle beside another woman, who she thought must be Winter.

"Sorry Yang gotta go!"

"Wait Ruby I'm coming ba-"

Ruby turned off her scroll and went down to the sidewalk as the taxi parked. A distraught looking Weiss stumbled out of the rear passenger door, a cold sweat dripping from her Weiss. She tumbled down the sidewalk onto Ruby's driveway in a panic that got even Ruby all worried.

"Weiss! Weiss! What's wrong?"

"I need! I need to pack!"

"Pack? Why? Where are you going?"

"Atlas! My father just got stabbed in prison!"

Author's Notes:

Yeah... well I did say that this one was practically done when the previous chapter was posted. It was just up for internal debate one when I'll actually put it up. Decided to put it up today as I'm trying to finish While You Were Sleeping by the end of the week. Also I'm working on a one-shot that was partially inspired by a fan comic I read the other day.

Anyway reviews and criticisms are still welcome.