Chapter 12: Waltz of Stares – Gingerbread
Weiss sat on her bed, staring at the door. She twiddled with her thumbs as Blake approached her, "Weiss, you can't just board yourself up here all day. Ruby and Yang already headed up to our first class before you woke up… you wouldn't want to leave them hanging."
Weiss stood up, "I… I am just not looking forward to meeting up with my father randomly during the walks to and from classes. AND my bruise might still hurt…"
Blake sighed and pulled the heiress out of the dorm, "Weiss, your aura healed that last night. Just… Follow me."
Weiss sighed as she gave in to Blake's actions and followed the faunus to their first class.
The walk was pretty uneventful, as they were the other students kept to their own conversation.
Weiss decided to speak up, "I… had another dream… As a toddler."
Blake's ears under the ribbon perked slightly towards the voice of the alabaster girl. Weiss continued at the walked out the exit of the dorms and were crossing the courtyard to their next class. "I… was kneading some sort of dough with Winter and the kitchen chef… Afterwards the became… cookies of some sort… In that dream we both delivered it to our parents and shared the cookies together… I faintly remember the taste of those cookies… I faintly saw my father's smile…"
Blake started to internally panic as a lone tear slipped from the shorter girl's left eye, "Weiss… You cannot bring those moments back… they are the past. Your father is no longer that man who you see in your dreams. You must keep your head up, don't let your father pull you down."
Weiss smiled at her, which quickly vanished as she spotted her father walking with the three boys and talking to them. The father and daughter's eyes met, and held for a few seconds. Weiss stopped in her tracks as she watched her father glared at her then turned away from her to lead the boys in the opposite direction. She turned to Blake who had seen the whole scene transpire in front of her, "I must keep my head up… I don't want to go losing it right now."
Weiss nodded her head at Blake, who gave her a thumbs up for the other two dorm members were asleep and the coast was clear for Weiss to meet her little crew on the rooftop.
She let her high heels echo in the halls, and into the drone into her head. She allowed her feet to lead her out the door, having taken this route many times to meet up with Jaune, Pyrrha, Sun and Neptune. Her feet suddenly stopped as she noticed a tuff of white in the distance. In curiosity, she moved closer to see her father in a call with his secretary… She had to keep her head high. The heiress moved closer to hear her father's last words in the call, "Yes, yes. Make sure that shipment goes out… That will be all."
The click of Weiss high heels finally reached his ears. He turned around, a look of disgust on his face, "What are you doing here?"
Weiss swallowed in a breath before she asked, "What happen?"
Jacques gave her a judgmental look, "What?
"I have dreams… Of what we used to be… What went wrong?"
Jacques sighed as he turned away, "You are disappointing to look at."
Weiss kept her wits together, "You are avoiding the question." She stated with a blank look on her face.
He father glared at her, "Talking back is inappropriate behavior for a young and straight lady like you."
Weiss ignored the comment and asked, "I am only politely asking for information that I have the right to know. And once you tell me what it is… I'll stay quiet. And you know a Schnee doesn't go back from their word."
Jacques looked at her, "Do YOU want to know why I want you, my daughter to succeed?"
"I feel more like a bird in a cage."
Her father turned his head away suddenly, with a frustrated tone, "With that type of attitude I won't give it at all."
Weiss swallowed her pride… As much as she wanted to shout back at him, she wanted to hear this, "You may go father."
Jacques wore a conflicted expression upon his face. He then sighed for the second time in the night and decided that she might as well know. He looked to the night sky, "As you know there was a time… The Schnee Dust Company wasn't the most important thing in my life…"
Weiss asked for confirmation, "What was?"
Jacques scowled, "Something that showed weakness."
Weiss interrupted, "Loving your family is not a weakness."
Jacques didn't answer to that, he instead continued, "When you and Winter were still young and Whitley was still a baby, the White Fang started to become hostile."
He stayed stoic, "Those mangy faunus then started to then graffiti the stores that the SDC own and throw eggs at our house." He stroked his mustache in thought, "Eventually it grew worse… Because of that weakness I had, family members, family friends… they all eventually started to disappear. The White Fang was killing people I was close to, one by one. In time there were a few attempted assassinations on your mother and I… Then it boiled down to…" He closed his eyes, not finishing his sentence.
He brought his hands up to smooth out the small unnoticeable creases in his business suit, "When I realized this weakness… I made sure to cut any… bonds I had. Because of my…. sudden change… your mother started to drink. But that didn't matter, my newfound power brought the company to where it is… very successful… no thanks to those faunus."
"JUST SO YOU KNOW MY FRIEND IS A FAUNUS."
Weiss odd outburst made her also shout out what he had pent up all day at her, "THIS IS WHY I WAS HARSH ON YOU! YOU DELIBERATELY TRY TO MAKE MT DAY WORSE!"
Weiss crossed her arms, "How did I even do that as I child?"
Her father's head started to grow red with anger, "IMAGINE GOING HOME AND ONLY HEAR IGNORANT LAUGHTER! You never understood my internal struggles! You would run up to me and basically pull my hair out!"
Weiss raised an eyebrow, "Father, that's called being a child."
Jacques gave a huge sigh as he massaged his eyebrow ridges, "That is the problem Weiss. You acted like a child; I had to toughen you up. The world isn't all rainbows and sunshine!"
Weiss shouted at him, "But you could of! At least you should have it seem like that when Winter and I were young. When I was a child, I thought that 'happiness' was dead… that the world isn't a place for living, only surviving! I grew up with that notion father; it didn't make for a good childhood. You should have at least acted like the other fathers that exist in this world."
Her father eyes became slanted, "I am not those fathers Weiss, and thanks to me you still are alive! You could have been assassinated if I didn't allow fencing lessons for you. I should have sent you to the school in Atlas… Beacon has polluted you mind. I am happy to say that I am going to pull you out of this excuse of a school by the end of the dance."
Weiss eyes watered, "Father… I want to stay here."
Her father sneered as she faced away from her, "I should stop giving you what you want."
Weiss had to stay strong… keep her head up… but… all her friends and precious bonds that she created here… Ruby... Weiss couldn't hold it any longer, her eyes broke out the floodgates as tears fall like a heavy downpour of rain. Her father heard the sniffling and saw his daughter clenching her hands by her side.
He scoffed as he turned his back again towards her, "A Schnee doesn't show weakness. I suggest you get your bags packed by Sunday. You may leave."
"F-father… Papa I am gay."
Weiss said it like it was a mantra, to break the ice… or create more.
His eyes widened… She was playing the word game again… A-and… it wasn't going to get him. He felt a pang of guilt at the edge of his heart. In a low voice he asked, "Was it my fault?… Was it this new attitude of mine that caused this 'gayness.'"
Weiss sniffed as she brought her hand to wipe the remaining tears that were left on her cheek. A light of hope sparked at the tone of her father's voice. More confidently she answered, "No… I just found someone I love."
She awaited her father's answer.
"It is impossible to fall in love with the same gender… leave."
"B-but."
"I SAID LEAVE!"
Weiss stayed shocked, rooted her spot. Her father groaned in anger. He spewed quiet profanities as he decided to leave instead.
Weiss' eyes relayed their interaction again… She then thought back to that peaceful dream she had…this time Weiss realized.
The heiress ran to the building and up the stairs. She slammed the door open at the rooftop making the duo from Haven jump up in fright and the arkos couple instinctually go into battle stance towards the door.
The heiress hair was frazzled from running up to the roof in record speed. Realizing that her friends looked at her appearance in concern, made her start to smooth out her hair.
Jaune asked, "Whoa, what happened to you Snow Princess."
Sun snickered, "Did you get hot and bothered with a certain leader before you go here?"
Weiss stomped her foot on the ground, "Sun you insufferable jerk!"
Sun chuckled, "She still in there guys."
Pyrrha took a step closer to Weiss as she noticed the alabaster girl's eyes were rimmed red from her tears, "Weiss, what happen." Pyrrha asked as she pointed to her own eyes."
Weiss touched it and felt the small sting from her tears.
Neptune gasped, "Snow Sis! Are you sure okay?"
Weiss pulled her determined face back on, "I am! And I need to bake! You two," She pointed to her 'brothers.' "Are coming with me."
Jaune and Pyrrha asked in unison, "Do you want us to come?"
Weiss shook her head, "Nope, you guys can continue to practice."
With her scroll in hand, she pulled the two boys down the stairs.
Weiss checked the clock in the kitchen; the cookies only need a few more minutes more. She was right now waiting for her twentieth batch to finish baking. She looked towards to the two boys who were, as per usual were passed out by the chairs in the corner of the room. They had passed out 4 hours ago and she decided to leave them be as she tried to find the right recipe.
The sun peered from the horizon, and in a few minutes it had just left the floor. At that time, the oven pinged. She put on her red and white-checkered oven mitts and pulled out her twentieth batch. Using the baking paper, she pulled the ginger bread cookies off the hot tray slid them carefully onto a cooling rack. Very eager and tired from her other attempts, she picked out a gingerbread man and blew on to it, to cool it faster. When it was only warm she broke off its leg and tasted it. Her eyes lit in satisfaction… It was perfect.
Content with her results, she prepared the piping bags and filled it up with different coloured royal icing for decoration. The kitchen doors opened, which broke the peaceful silence. It was Ren who usually made energy smoothies for his group as on Fridays, there was usually training session with Professor Goodwitch.
He sniffed the aroma the cookies created, "Weiss, I smell gingerbread."
Weiss nodded as she carefully yet skillfully (you can thank Ren for that) poured the blue royal icing into its piping bag, "A recipe… I had to ask Winter for it."
Ren walked up to it and picked up the gingerbread man with a severed leg. He decided to break off the head and taste it, "It's not bad… But the ginger over powers the sugar a bit."
Weiss nodded her head, "Yep, I know… To be honest the first batch I made was perfect. But it didn't taste like the one I had back then. Winter and I weren't experts when we were kids. So of course we would mix a few things up."
Ren nodded his answer at the reasonable yet unexplainable answer, "I couldn't help but notice… They aren't strawberry flavoured."
Weiss smiled at Ren way, "I know."
Weiss closed the door quietly. She was tired from her all-nighter. She checked the clock by the bedside table; there was only 1 hour until her team woke up. As she hung her apron in the inside of her wardrobe door, she heard rustling of blankets. She turned around to see Blake had sat up and staring at her, "You smell like cinnamon."
Weiss giggled awkwardly, "Lets just say that Sun and Neptune may have accidentally showered me in cinnamon during the first batch."
Blake tilted her head in curiosity, "Another one for… she who shall not be named."
Weiss rolled her eyes at Blake's reference but honestly and carefully answered, "No… It was for someone else."
Blake had a thoughtful expression… Yang doesn't know about Weiss cooking… It couldn't be her because Weiss would've given it by now… Not team JNPR as she would usually have woken up from Nora's scream of delight by now… Wait…
Blake pieced the clues together, "Weiss… You didn't… Did you?"
Weiss nodded at her answer.
Blake quietly exclaimed, "But it would do nothing to change him back!"
"I know… But it can hopefully change him for the better."
Jacques woke up in the room he was staying in by an aroma that wafted by his nose. He sat up straight and surveyed his surroundings.
He felt a small breeze float in and gently brush his face with the delicious smell. He faced the window that he usually kept ajar to keep his room cool. The window was now opened fully, a plate balanced on the windowsill.
Jacques cautiously walked to the window. Before him were a few gingerbread cookies. He picked one up and smelt it… It was still warm, and there was no evidence of poison. The cookies seemed edible… If he got poisoned, it would at least take Weiss out of the school for precaution. He bit the arm, expecting for a specific taste of cyanide to make him spit out… Nothing seemed wrong.
Deciding it was alright he continued to chew the gingerbread. It wasn't good… the ginger overtook the sugar… It was familiar… His eyes then suddenly flashed to a far away memory… He was with his wife as they shared knowing looks as they pronounced that the cookies were the best in the world.
He gazed tenderly as the cookie, the decoration coming into view. It was of a gingerbread man that resembled him. He observed the plate and there were four more cookies. Each of them all resembled his wife, two daughters and his son… It was just like those cookies from back then.
As another breeze flew by and made the flapping of paper more evident. Jacques moved his eyes to the gingerbread woman that resembled Weiss, which had a folded piece of paper tucked underneath. He picked it up and opened to read the contents. Eyes widened for a moment as he scanned the words:
"What went wrong?"
He turned the paper to check for anything else, which he found small writing scrawled at the bottom right hand corner. It made his heart stop a second:
"No matter what… I love you."
From down under and down here of this chapter!
I know this is different than to what is canon in terms of the relationship between Weiss and her father but lets just say… Vol 3 and 4 aren't exactly rainbows and sunshine so… Lets just say if you don't want to watch RWBY Chibi, this can be your go to area for nothing too sad…
Uhhhh… TO THE REVIEWS!
To GrnDrgnzrd: … ;)
I'll see ya all in the next chapterun (?)
