Notes: Not much to say. Other than next month, I will be going on vacation from April 6th to the 16th. So, there may be a week that I can't upload. I'm not too sure. Wifi on vacation has always a bit of a problem.
R&R Please. Feedback is very helpful.
CJ
Weiss held up a beautiful necklace. It was dripping with jewels. Her mother smiled kindly as Weiss put them down to study another charm. She would be able to take one of the Schnee gems with her. Yet, none seemed to catch her eye.
"What's this one from?" Weiss raised a small pair of earrings. "They look cheap."
"They are." Her mother, Crystal, frowned. "They were... a gift from a suitor, CJ. He gave them to me before he left to travel." That name sounded familiar.
"And you kept it." Her daughter noted.
"The metal gave me a rash." Crystal smiled. "So, I only wore it a few times, but it's the only thing you can't have." Her smile faded. "And it's best you not tell your father. He doesn't like things that remind him of CJ."
"I understand." Weiss put the earring down. "But I don't think I want any of this. It doesn't feel like me or something I'd need to wear."
"Ha, ha." The older Schnee moved to stand behind the younger. "No, they don't. Maybe, we should find you something else to take."
"Like?"
"You do enjoy learning." Mrs. Schnee recalled. "How about a book or something with history?"
"That...that sounds better." Weiss agreed.
"Ms?" Klein knocked on the door. "Your mother is needed. It seems there is someone that wishes to speak with you."
"Who is it?" Mrs. Schnee wondered aloud.
"It's..." The butler paused to glance at Weiss. Red eyes snapped back to his mistress. "It's a former performer you enjoyed a few years back. He has come to talk about his marriage and your thoughts on it. It was thanks to your patronage that he's gotten these far."
"If it is who I think, he took very little from me." She seemed to sober up. "And has no need to worry or ask my opinion. But. I will see him."
"Do you want me to come with you?" Weiss asked.
"No, stay here." Her mother replied. "I shouldn't be long. Weiss," Her mother took hold of her hands. "You're going to have a great future. Don't ever doubt it. This is the best for you."
"I... I guess." The former heir frowned. The older Schnee often forgot herself and what she was talking about. Her mother beamed and placed a kiss on Weiss's forehead before leaving.
The former heiress stood alone in her mother's room. Her father's room has on the other side of a small door on the far end of the bedroom. Weiss wondered, for a brief moment, if this would what her future held. Two bedrooms linked by a door that neither party would ever use. It made her feel cold and small.
Rather than dwell on the ifs of her future and what she would want in her upcoming marriage, she turned to a wall of books. Her mother said she could take one from the collection. She stepped carefully towards the shelves with a tiny grin. Her fingers ran across the spines as she scanned them. She paused at one she'd never heard of. 'From White to Ash: A play of sorrow and mistaken trust.'
Weiss pulled the book and opened it to find letters hidden within. They were old pages and clearly not meant for her eyes. Love letters. The young Schnee felt her throat tighten as she opened the top one. Tears stained it.
'My Dearest Crystal,
I forgive you from thinking I was dead. I forgive you for marrying my friend. I forgive you for not knowing I still lived a breathed, for how could you know. But I can not overlook what has happened. Jacques made a mistake. He told your father the wrong tunnel and Nicholas thought it impossible to reach me. I had to dig my way out. I had to dig myself out of the earth and fight to see the sky again.
The only comfort that I had was knowing that my true love was waiting for me to come home. I needed to keep my promise to her, the woman that would rather dead than be with another. It pushed me forward and it lead me to the sun. I traveled through an foreign land unable to write to those who most have thought me dead. I made it home to the joy of my family and to witness the Love Without Limits, the Truest of Love, only to find that it wasn't true at all.
Crystal, tell me honestly and truly. How long did you wait until you married my best friend? Did you wait until you thought my body was cold? Did you even grieve over me before turning your back to my memory? If you did, than do so still. For your CJ is dead. He was left for dead by your father, by his best friend, by your husband, and by his truest love. And while you celebrate you're happy marriage, the corpse of your former truest love buries his little sister.
Some hearts take years to heal. It seems your heart, if you even have one, took less than one. It seems I was mistaken to believe that the name Schnee meant honesty and trust conviction. Because you have none.'
"Wow, that's harsh." Weiss couldn't believe her eyes. She couldn't imagine getting a letter like that. "I can't believe... not even a year and she married my father. But she must have loved him. She kept his letters." She reasoned as she opened another.
'My Dear Crystal,
Thank you for your kind words, but I can assure you that my family wants nothing to do with your money. You may be willing to overlook your husbands treatment of faunus, but we can not. It would be an insult to our parents and all that we stand for. Besides, it won't being back my brother.
Tell me, was it your idea or Jacques to throw money at this problem? Did your loving husband even realize it was my baby brother he shot in that rally? Or did he think it was a faunus making trouble? I couldn't be sure. They both seem so much like him these days that either could be true.
Please, don't write me again.'
'My Dearest and Truest Crystal,
I can't wait to marry you. You are the wonder of the world. You are the finest jewel. No dust could compare to the power you have over my heart and soul. I love you. I'd be nothing without you and I'd do anything to stay by your side. But I have to do this. I have leave you for a bit.
I want to prove to your father the kind of man I am. I want him to see me as strong and trustworthy before I ask him for your hand. But don't worry. I'll come home to you. I won't die so easily and Jacques will be with me. He'll look out for me and I'll look out for him. And I'd have shown your father that I am more than just a foolish writer. I'm a man that take care of you and give a future.
Your Loyal, Devoted, Ardent Lover ~ CJ'
There were a few other letters filled with loving and cherishing words. This man really did love her. He truly thought of Jacques as his closest friend. In one moment, CJ has lost his the woman he planned to marry, his best friend, his sister and some time later his baby brother.
"How awful." She muttered as she put the letters back. She slipped the book back into place. "I can't imagine how he could forgive all that. It's no wonder mother drinks." Weiss took out a book of fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Her mother had tried to read it to her a few times. She would take this and maybe see her mother smile, a true unbroken smile.
