HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hope you had a good one!

"... Dad?"

Mr. Schnee ignored the other three girls in the room, his gaze solely on his daughter. He didn't say a word as he sauntered over to her, his expression disbelieving. "Weiss…" he murmured, finding it hard to realize his daughter was in front of him.

"Y-you're alive…?" Weiss asked, almost thinking her father was an illusion. She wasn't even sure if her comment was a question or a statement.

Mr. Schnee smiled, his eyes watering as he reached his hand out to see if his daughter was real. He hesitated, not sure if he could touch her, but a smile from her lips erased those thoughts. Once his hand curled around the back of her head, he knew for sure that she was the real deal, and pulled her in closely to his chest.

Ruby, Blake, and Yang took their leave, knowing they needed privacy.

"We'll be waiting outside, princess," Yang said softly.

Weiss nodded to acknowledge the comment, but her eyes never left her father's tired and weary gaze.

Blake was the last person out the door, her sight trailing the man's back unsettlingly. After what she had just learned, she didn't know what to think and needed time to process the information. Ruby noticed she was anxious, so she gently coaxed her out to the hallway.

"Weiss," his voice cracked. "Are you okay?"

"I-I should be asking you that!" Weiss sniffled, lifting her good arm to hug him. "How are you alive? Don't get me wrong, I'm so happy you're okay," she stifled a sob. "But what happened?"

Her father sat on the edge of the bed, never letting go of her hand. "I was thrown off Never More during the storm."

Weiss gasped. "H-how'd you make it after that?"

Flashback...

Captain Schnee's head was throbbing as he sank into the cold water. He opened his eyes as he was sinking into the murky abyss, he saw a large orange package float towards him. Captain Schnee, still in a daze, instinctively grabbed it before it washed by his head.

His chest burned as he held his breath. Knowing what the orange package was, the Captain fumbled around with it until he found what he was looking for - a long black cord with a handle attached to the end - and ripped it out with as much force as he could muster.

Immediately, the orange cube exploded, inflating itself with air and rising to the surface. By the time it reached the surface of the water, it was a fully formed survival raft with a tent attached. Captain Schnee flopped inside.

Once he had enough energy to lift his head and look outside in the storm, he noticed that the Never More was going much faster than it ever should have been. He helplessly watched as the ship rocketed toward a dangerous cliffside, going much too fast to stop.

"Weiss…" he muttered before slipping into unconsciousness, adrift on the vast open sea.

End of flashback…

"Are you okay? You got hurt!" Weiss fretted.

"Just a bump on the head," he replied, his voice even. "I was checked for a concussion, but they let me go."

Weiss gave him a once-over, relieved that he seemed alright.

"After that," her father continued. "I found help. I told them what happened, and thankfully, Beacon was nice enough to provide a search party. That school is very generous, especially the headmaster."

Beacon? Weiss asked herself. The school they're from helped him? Now it makes sense.

"You mean headmaster Ozpin?" Weiss asked. "He helped you?"

"Yes!" Mr. Schnee exclaimed, skeptical that she knew the name. "He made it his mission to find his students. He knew about it since there were rumors around the school, which were proven to be true. It's a miracle that we found all of you in one piece."

"He was one of the people that found us," Weiss informed. "Including Ms. Goodwitch."

"I see," her father said softly. "There were many search parties, with helicopters scanning every cliff on the ocean," he chuckled. "I know it was overkill, but nothing is too much for my daughter."

They have such a good life at that school, Weiss thought. A very caring headmaster as well.

Weiss smiled. "How long did you look?"

The ex-captain held his chin in thought while rubbing his other hand in circles along his daughter's back. "As soon as I made it back to the mainland. It didn't take Ozpin long to realize that his three favorite students were missing. Don't tell him I told you that," he sent a wink.

"My lips are sealed," she motioned her finger over her mouth, metaphorically locking them.

He continued with a smile. "We searched every day until we found you."

"While we were stuck there… I… I talked to the moon… almost every night. Just like how we used to. I talked with you…" she teared up again, remembering the despair she felt back then.

"I did too," her father replied, his voice slightly wavering. "I never gave up hope."

"Ditto," she offered a smile. "It was difficult, but somehow I knew you were okay. I was in denial at first, but they really helped me out in keeping faith."

Mr. Schnee grinned after wiping the tears away. "We're both okay, that's all that matters. No stupid island can take my daughter down."

Weiss giggled a bit. "You're pretty tough yourself."

"How did you get that injury?" he asked curiously, a million possibilities swarming his mind when he saw the bandaged left arm lying limply on the bed.

"An ape," she casually answered.

Her father gasped. "An ape?!"

"Relax," she said with a hint of annoyance. "They took it down."

She knew that he has many questions about what happened on the island, but right now she was still a bit drowsy from the medication, leaving her head slightly fuzzy.

He sighed, knowing his daughter was tired given the curt responses. "You'll have to tell me everything later. How is it?"

Weiss playfully rolled her eyes. She'd heard that question too many times in just the last hour alone.

"Much better," she answered with a sigh of relief. "They saved my life many times."

"I must thank them," he said sternly. "Anyone who looks out for you is good in my book."

Before he could stand up, Weiss tugged the bottom of his shirt. "There's something you should know."

From that, the ex-captain stopped in his tracks and perked an eyebrow. "Which is?"

"I know I shouldn't say this… but…" Weiss persevered. "They crashed our home. And there's nothing we can do to bring Never More back, but you shouldn't be mad at them. Despite that, they… they're very good people. My closest friends."

"I figured as much," he replied. "After being stuck on that forsaken island, it was only a matter of time before you made friends with them," he said evenly. "But it doesn't matter that they crashed a replaceable ship. What matters is that they saved my priceless daughter's life, and for that, I owe them my deepest gratitude."

"You're not mad?" Weiss asked in exasperation.

"There are important more things to think about," he replied. "Like why that blonde girl called you 'princess' before she left the room."

"Her name is Yang," Weiss stifled a giggle. "And it's a long story."

"And why the black-haired girl had a sloth around her neck," he continued, almost chuckling. "I'm confused to say the least."

Weiss took solace in the fact that her father referred to Blake as 'the black-haired girl' instead of a 'faunus.' He had never been one to discriminate, but she was especially worried after what she had told Blake when she remembered what happened in the past.

"She's Blake, and the other is Ruby," she replied. "But the explanations will have to wait. I'm sure they'll inform you when they come back."

"Of course," he agreed. "Right now, I must thank them and you should rest."

What will Blake do? She seemed so anxious when he showed up, Weiss thought. Not that I'm surprised… Telling her just now was horrible timing.

As if on cue, the door creaked open, with Ruby's voice reaching their ears. "Can we come in now?"

"Yes," Weiss permitted.

The three girls walked in, their eyes trailed on the man.

"So this is your dad?" Ruby asked.

"Indeed."

Blake's ears flattened when she heard Weiss' nervous tone, knowing she must be uncomfortable after telling her the details about her past. The faunus wished her friend had more confidence in her. Ruby noticed her girlfriend's nervous body language, so she grabbed her hand and gave a reassuring squeeze.

"Hello~" Yang sang and strolled up to the man, holding out her hand. "I'm Yang. Yang Xiao Long. Nice to meet ya, papa Schnee."

The ex-captain perked an eyebrow from the nickname as he stood up from the bed. He stared at her outreached hand and shook it. "'Papa?'" he quoted, clearly perplexed.

"Oho," Yang wiggled her eyebrows mischievously. "You mean you didn't tell him, princess?"

"There were other things to cover," Weiss said as Yang sat on the edge of her bed. "I never got to it."

"Got to what?" he asked, curiosity peaked.

Yang slung her arm around Weiss' shoulders. "We're girlfriends!"

"This is interesting to say the least…" Mr. Schnee mumbled.

"A-are you okay with that?" Weiss stammered. "I'm sorry I didn't mention it earlier-"

"It's fine," her father assured. "When you spoke of her, your eyes lit up. I figured something was going on between you two."

"Aw," the blonde cooed. "I'm so touched."

Weiss' eyes met Yang's kind lilac ones. "Brute…"

"Hello, sir," Ruby chimed. "I'm Ruby!"

"The dolt of the group," Weiss added.

Ruby crossed her arms proudly. "The best dolt there is!"

Blake realized she was being rude when she hadn't said a word. "I'm Blake," she said in a monotone voice.

It was a bit awkward for the faunus to even look at the man, but to speak to the person that killed her parents…

It was unnerving to say the least.

Part of her felt like he would finish the job, killing her off to erase the bloodline. She knew it was a ridiculous thought. Those thoughts soon vanished when she saw the infinite love he had for his daughter. She wasn't there in the past, but based on what she knew… She gathered that it was more than likely Captain Schnee concluded her parents were part of the mob. Especially since they tried to escape the castle.

With his little Weiss.

Her father probably thought that her parents intended to kidnap Weiss, so he reacted on instinct, doing what any parent would do to protect their children. She couldn't fault him for that.

The last thing she wanted to think was that he was a cold-blooded murderer.

"Blake," the ex-captain repeated. "Do you mind if I ask why you have a sloth around your neck?"

Hearing her name uttered from the man made her anxious, so she focused her full attention on the sloth.

"This is Nora. She's probably the only good thing that came from being stranded."

"Brrah!"

"About that…" Ruby chirped. "We're really sorry!" she bowed her head.

Yang followed her sister and bowed her head in apology.

Blake awkwardly stood there, her mind swarming with thoughts about what to do.

Was she expected to bow before the man that killed her parents?

A nod of encouragement came from Weiss, leaving Blake content with her choice to just stand there.

The ex-captain noticed that Blake didn't follow suit, but didn't seem to mind.

"Very sorry," Blake genuinely apologized. She was still partially responsible for crashing the ship, after all.

"It was a stupid thing to do to say the least," Yang said softly. "We're sorry."

A faint smile carved on Mr. Schnee's face. "Raise your heads."

The sisters did as they were told and lifted their heads.

"You saved my daughter, did you not?"

"Yes," Blake replied sternly.

"That's all I care about," he claimed. "So thank you all. I owe you my deepest gratitude."

"Psh," Yang waved off, slightly blushing from the praise. "She saved us a bunch, too!"

"Yeah!" Ruby chirped. "Like when Yang almost fell in a volcano!"

"What!?" Mr. Schnee yelped.

Blake smirked. "And when Weiss impaled a jaguar in the heart, saving my life."

His jaw dropped. "What the hell happened on that island!?"

"Too much," Weiss sighed. "But I taught them the things you taught me when I was little. Combat, I mean."

"It sure came in handy," Yang added. "We probably would be dead by now if we didn't learn from her."

"Brrah!"

"Oh," the blonde chirped, realizing Nora never got recognition for her efforts. "And Nora. Nora warned us about predators all the time."

"Father…" Weiss called quietly. "There's something I need to ask you."

She figured asking the question with her friends present would be the best option, especially since they unknowingly provided support.

I've been wanting to ask him this for a long time… It's now or never.

Mr. Schnee noticed his daughter seemed nervous. "What is it?"

"No," Weiss shook her head. "I need to tell you something."

He tilted his head. "Yes?"

"I want to live on land," she finally admitted. "I want to stay with them... and I want to go to Beacon. I know I sound like a needy child, but… no…" she shook her head. "I need this."

The room was filled with silence, her father speechless.

Yang's eyes widened. "You… you think you can stay?"

Weiss' azure eyes went from Yang to her father. "May I?" she asked with conviction.

The ex-captain could tell how much her new friends meant to her and she even got a girlfriend in the process. His overprotective side had taken up too much of her life, and he felt a little guilty, especially after what she had been through as a result.

"Yes, you may," he answered. "Beacon is a great school," his eyes lingered on the three. "And… I have a feeling that they'd fight for you to stay anyways."

After waiting for so long to tell her father about wanting to live on land, another burden was lifted off her shoulders. This was perfect timing, considering she had already found a school and even friends to start a new chapter of life with.

Weiss couldn't contain her excitement and pulled down the covers, stepping on the floor. Once she stood, she wrapped her father in a tight embrace with both arms. "Thank you…"

"Aw," Yang cooed and joined the hug. "This is too cute."

Weiss glowered at her girlfriend teasingly. "He's mine."

Yang chuckled, a small smile forming. "Got it," she went over to Ruby and Blake, knowing that they needed their moment.

Mr. Schnee pulled her close, savoring the warmth. He made sure to keep her close, knowing she was still heavily medicated. It seemed like up till this point had been a dream, but as he ran his fingers through her snow-white hair, he remembered it was reality.

That everything was okay.

Just as they were about to pull apart, the door opened again. Everyone in the room were surprised when it wasn't the doctor.

A girl with large trademark rabbit ears entered and a yellow primate tail was wrapped around her waist.

"Sun?!" Blake yelped. "Velvet?!"

"Long time no see," Sun greeted, his arm around Velvet's shoulders.

"Hey!" Velvet greeted. "I'm glad to see you're all okay."

Not soon after, a girl with fiery orange hair walked in after the couple, humming a chipper tune.

"Nora?!" Ruby exclaimed. "You're here too?!"

The moment Weiss heard the name, she gazed at the girl and then the sloth, now knowing who she was named after. The comment Blake had made after hearing the name seemed to make sense about the two being opposites.

"Aye, aye!" Nora confirmed. "We're to see ya! Sorry more people couldn't come, it was such short notice!"

Weiss stared at Nora with calculating eyes. "So you're the one."

"Huh?" Nora tilted her head. "Oh jeez. What'd I do now?"

Blake chuckled a bit, knowing what Weiss was talking about. "Here," she held out the sloth.

"Is that a sloth?!" Nora shouted. "Oh. My. God! Wait till Ren hears about this!" she cheered and carefully reached out with her pointer finger. Once it hit the sloth's nose, she said. "Boop!"

"Brrah!" the sloth squealed.

"Oh man," Nora said in awe. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."

Blake kept the sloth out in front of her. "Just hold her already," she smirked.

Nora took the animal in her arms without a second thought, murmuring words of amazement.

"We named her after you," Yang informed with a wide grin.

"Brrah!" the animal wiggled in Nora's arms, not liking the foreign smell.

"Aw," Nora pouted. "I don't think she likes me."

Ruby giggled and carefully took the sloth in her own arms. "It takes a while for her to warm up to people."

"You can say that again," Yang mumbled irritably. "One of the first times I held her, she pooped on me!"

Everyone in the room bursted into laughter.

"It wasn't funny!" Yang yelped.

Velvet fake wiped a tear. "I wish I saw that."

"You probably deserved it," Sun jokingly added.

The animal nuzzled her head against Ruby's stomach.

"Brrah..."

Nora the sloth slowly shut her eyes, drifting off in the world of slumber. After worrying all day about her favorite humans, sleep was easy to achieve when she realized they'd be alright.

"Awww," Ruby cooed as she cradled the animal. "She fell asleep."

Blake fondly smiled as she stared at the sleeping sloth. "She deserves it."

"Are you all okay?" Sun asked. "Being stranded for that long must've sucked."

"It did," Weiss confirmed.

Sun nodded and looked to Ruby, Yang and Blake. "What you did was pretty stupid."

"We're not going to sugarcoat it," Velvet said in a disappointed voice. "That was fucking stupid."

Nora giggled. "I didn't think you'd go through with it. We thought you'd chicken out when the storm rolled in."

"Ehehe," Yang rubbed the back of her head. "We know."

Nora pointed at Weiss. "Are you their poor victim?"

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Hardly."

"Either way," Sun cut in. "Thanks for helping these hopeless sacks of shit, uhhh."

"Weiss," she informed. "We each had our own skill set to survive. They helped me more than I helped them."

"Wow..." Sun muttered.

"Are you guys coming to school tomorrow?" Nora asked suddenly. "Everyone misses you."

"Honestly," Ruby started. "I think we'll go next week. We need to adapt to things here first."

"We need to go back soon," Blake added. "We've missed over a month…"

Yang sighed. "It's gonna suck trying to catch up, but there's one good thing that came outta this!"

"What?" her friends asked in unison.

Yang wryly glanced to Weiss. "You're gonna transfer!"

"Joy…" Weiss playfully rolled her eyes. "I'm so terribly excited."

Ruby eagerly ran up to Weiss. "When will you?!"

Weiss looked up at her father for an answer.

Mr. Schnee smiled. "As soon as her injury heals."

Ruby pumped her fist in the air with victory. "Yes!"

"By the way," Blake started. "Yang won the bet."

"Huh?" the blonde asked.

"We were on the island for about a month and a half," the faunus informed. "You guessed that we'd be stranded for a month."

"Ohhhhh," Ruby chirped in realization. "Yeah! And I said a couple of days, while you said half a year!"

"Half a year?" Mr. Schnee scoffed. "I'll be damned if we took that long to find you."

The girls broke out in grins before a knock on the door caused them to turn their heads.

A familiar man carefully shut the door.

"Hello, everyone," Doctor Melas said as he strolled in.

"Hey Roz!" Yang greeted. "What's up?"

The doctor flipped through his clipboard. "Good news! You're all okay to leave," he noticed their surprised faces. "The four of you can go home now. But I want all of you to get some rest. No strenuous activity, especially you, Weiss."

"I'll make sure she doesn't exert herself," the ex-captain stated.

"Aw, you hear that Weiss? You and I can't engage in any strenuous activity," the blonde said with suggestive emphasis.

Mr. Schnee literally face palmed from the comment. He thought that his daughter picked an interesting girlfriend. One with guts, or stupidity, he couldn't tell.

Weiss' face flushed a bright shade of red. "S-shut up, you brute!"

Yang wiggled her eyebrows before she turned to Ruby and ruffled her sister's hair. "I bet dad'll be happy to see us!"

"You didn't tell him you were alive?!" Weiss yelped. "He's probably worried sick!"

"Psh," Ruby waved. "Him of all people knows we can survive something like that!"

"Still…" Weiss murmured. "At least call him."

"We're headin' home now!" Yang chirped as she slung her arms around Blake and Ruby. "You should get dressed, I think we're leaving soon."

Weiss gazed at her father. "Do we have somewhere to go?"

"Of course," the ex-captain replied. "I bought nice house in town shortly after I arrived."

"I'd expect nothing less," Weiss said. "Okay, we'll go with you."

"We'll let you get changed then," Mr. Schnee said. "Will you be okay?"

"Yes dad," Weiss stated firmly. "I'll be out in a minute."

Her father nodded. "Alright. We'll be waiting."

Mr. Schnee, Ruby, Yang, Blake, the doctor and their friends took their leave.

"You know what I want when we get home?" Ruby asked her friends as they exited the room and stood in the hallway just as the food cart rolled by, delivering the hospital food to the patients. "I want all the breakfast foods on the menu! Like eggs, waffles, pancakes, french toast-"

"We get it," Sun interjected.

"I doughnut about you, but I want all the bacon we have!" Yang snickered from her joke while eyeing a visibly stale muffin in the cart.

Ruby wrapped her arm around Blake's waist, who saw her chance. "You must be yolking."

The blonde sniffled. "I'm so proud of you," she said in a teasing tone to the faunus.

The group collectively groaned from their lame jokes.

Sun mumbled. "That island messed you up."

"I'll tell ya one thing," Nora said. "We didn't miss those puns."

One chapter to go! The finale!

Stay dandy,

~Toto