Merry Christmas! Or happy day for people who don't celebrate it. Hope you guys have a great holiday!

They awoke together, their bodies entwined on the couch. Mark slowly lifted himself, carrying Summer with him. He took her into their bedroom, placing her in the bed, tucking her in so she could sleep longer. She immediately missed the warmth, but a kiss from Mark silenced her protests.

"Come back once you're done." Summer yawned as she turned in her sleep.

Mark smiled before walking out back into the kitchen. He took an apple from a fruit basket on the counter, eating it before he walked outside. He walked towards the shed at the side, closing the door behind him. He took out the spine and fangs of the King Taijitsu, placing them on the counter. Then he began the arduous task of sharpening each and every edge of the spine's segments, making sure that they were sharp enough to cut through flesh. He broke the spine into its individual segments, exposing the muscle underneath that help together its spine, giving it the flexibility. He infused the muscle with his aura, ensuring it would never snap under any circumstance. Then he took each segment of the spine with bones jutting out, sharpening them to an edge. He threaded the muscle through each piece as he finished, reconnecting them as he went. Once finishing that, he decided that he would place the four fangs at the end of the spine, making it so the whip could pierce a body or whatever he needed it to. He set them at the end, the points pointing to the center. He used some of his aura and fire dust in his body, welding the ends to the spine. Giving it a few quick flicks, he deemed it usable. He walked outside with his new weapon, wanting to try it out on a couple of trees, grimm if he could find some.

He wandered the forest surrounding his home for an hour, whipping trees, pleased as he saw the whip slice through the bark with ease. he stumbled upon a pack of grimm a couple of miles away from his home. They charged him, holding the end, he whipped it in a circle, slashing the bellies of any who approached. One jumped at him from behind, but Mark quickly turned, impaling the whip's edge into the airborne beowolf. He pulled on the whip, pulling himself into the air, and the beowolf towards him. He kicked of of the body, pulling his weapon out with him. He then thrust the whip forward in a flicking motion, impaling the alpha of the pack. He yanked the whip back, pleased as he saw the crimson liquid rush out of the alpha as it fell to the floor. The rest of the beowolves chose to run, after witnessing their leader's demise.

Mark was pleased with his new weapon, but thought of a new use for it. He ran forwards towards one of the trees. Using the whip to latch around a branch, he used his inertia to swing along the branches. He arrived back at his home quickly. He found the new tool to be extremely useful, but found that holding i tin his hand to be extremely ineffective should he want to use his hand. He wrapped it around his right arm, using aura to protect his flesh as it wrapped around his arm. He swung it around, feeling if it was comfortable to use easily. Being content with it, he knew that it would be an inconvenience having it on at all time. He opened a portal to push his arm through, feeling the feeling of the whip disappear from his arm. He withdrew his arm, finding it free. Placing it back into the portal, the feeling of the whip surrounded his arm once again. He saw the whip wrapped around his arm. Having a way to get the weapon, he left the weapon inside of the void. He entered the house, seeing that it was in the afternoon. He found Summer wrapped up in a story on the kitchen on her scroll. He walked behind her, making no sound as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Boo." he whispered.

She smiled, kissing his hand as she closed the scroll. "That's a nice story you wrote." she said.

"You read it?" Mark asked as he walked to the cupboards, gathering ingredients to cook.

Summer nodded. "I like it, tells your story well." she answered.

Mark hummed in response, cooking their food for the day.

They spent the rest of their day talking about how their lives had been since they had been apart, enjoying the company of the other.

"Wonder if Ruby'll be good at singing." Mark thought aloud as he wrapped his arms around Summer as the laid down on the couch.

"What makes you think that?" Summer asked.

"Because you're a great singer." Mark praised, causing Summer to blush.

"I'll teach her. You can help." Summer answered. "You're not so bad yourself."

"I had a great teacher." Mark replied as he kissed the back of Summer's neck. "You don't mind if I record us singing right?" Mark spoke quickly, dropping it casually.

"Only if I get to listen to it every now and then." Summer said as she cuddled closer to Mark for warmth.

Soon it was time to sleep. So after packing his bags, Mark crawled into bed, besides Summer.

"Ruby will want to visit your grave when she visits." Mark announced as he laid back, Summer wrapping her arms around his neck as she turned over to lie on his chest.

"I know, I hope she isn't too mad." Summer said.

"I'll tell her that it was my fault, that I sent you away." Mark replied.

"She'll be furious. " Summer said. "You shouldn't."

"If it means that she's less angry at you, it's worth it. You deserve to make up with her, and you can't do that if she's angry at you." Mark said sternly. Summer only looked down, guilty about not wanting Mark to take the blame, but also wanting to make up with her daughter. "Now come on, let's sleep." Mark said, breaking Summer out of her self-guilt.

They awoke the nest morning, slivers of daylight streaming through the windows and onto Mark's face. he sat up, laying Summer to his side, placing a kiss on her cheek as he got dressed for the day. After clothing himself in his traveling attire, he left to make breakfast. Summer awoke somewhere in-between, walking into the kitchen with a ridiculous case of bed hair. It took a lot of self-control, but Mark was able to stifle most sounds of laughter, except for a chuckle.

Hearing it, Summer questioned. "What's up?"

"Your hair." He answered, bluntly.

Summer turned to check her hair in the bathroom, before walking out with a annoyed grin on her face. "You litt-" she started, but was silenced by Mark's lips. After pulling away, he led her down to the table to eat their breakfast. "-asshole." she finished.

Mark had to leave early to arrive at Atlas' capital, Metropole. So after breakfast, he gathered his bags before wishing Summer a farewell. She stopped him at the door, causing him to pause to let her speak.

She kissed him passionately, before pulling away, looking flustered. "Don't leave me by myself again." she mumbled. Mark, touched that Summer had missed him this much, dropped his bags, pulling her into a deep kiss. She slid his tongue into her mouth, fighting it for dominance of their embrace. After a few minutes, they broke apart, Summer panting for breaths, Mark taking a moment to catch his breath. "How the hell can you hold your breath for that long?"

"Practice, love." Mark answered. "I need to be going, but if Ruby wants to visit you as soon as we arrive in Atlas, we'll see each other by day's end." Mark stated, placing a softer kiss on Summer, pulling her into a comforting hug. "I'll see you soon." he whispered as he departed.

Mark arrived at Metropole by mid-day. The city was alive with business. It was much larger than any of the other kingdom's capitals, partly due to the fact that the Schnee Dust Company headquarters is situated in the city. He walked down the streets, admiring the hustle and bustle of life in a city this big. He could never live in such a confined place. He enjoyed the freedom the countryside brings, and with the snow here, it makes it look like a blanket of white covering a piece of Remnant. He strolled downtown, arriving at the SDC headquarters. he fished in his bag, for the ID he was given by Siegfried in case he ever needed to get into one of their establishments. After fishing it out, he asked the guard if he could see Siegfried. The man radioed it in, soon, he was met by his employer himself.

"Mark! Good to see you." Sieg announced. "What bring you here?"

"I was visiting an old friend old mine, and now I need to get back to Vale. Your daughter and Ruby want to come visit, so I intend to meet them before accompanying them here." Mark answered.

"Of course, of course. Come." Sieg replied, motioning for him to follow. Mark followed him past many security checkpoints, making idle chat with his friend. Soon they arrived at the personal elevators, leading to the top of the building, where Sieg's personal office and airship was docked. As they stepped inside, Sieg turned to Mark with one of the biggest shit-eating grins Mark had ever seen.

"You ok there Sieg?" Mark taunted.

"Of course, but the question is are you?"

"Pardon?"

"So, who's the lucky girl? I've known you long enough that if you needed to visit someone, it is only for the closest of friends, and aside from Qrow, Taiyang, Ozpin and my family, you aren't exactly friends with much more. So, I'll repeat myself, who's the lucky girl?" Sieg stated, his grin threatening to split his face in half.

"How do you know I didn't visit any of them?" Mark retorted.

"Because none of them live here, and they are currently staying at my home, to celebrate Thanksgiving. I won't repeat myself."

"It's a childhood friend. She was close to me, but she had to disappear. I came back to visit her."

"Attaboy, that wasn't so hard to admit, now was it?" Sieg laughed as he capped Mark's back. "Here we are." Sieg announced as he walked into the floor personalized for his use alone. "Let's have a drink, and you can be on your way."

Mark and Siegfried shared a quick drink before Sieg led Mark out to use his personal airship. Before entering, Sieg grabbed his hand. "I hope you bring your friend to my home. I would love to meet her." Sieg advised, before seeing him off.

Ruby and Weiss were waiting at Beacon's docks, awaiting the personal airship of Weiss' father. She was waiting there with her team, due to one begging and pouting Ruby Rose convincing her to let them come.

"When's it coming?" Ruby whined.

"It's almost here. Be patient." Weiss chided. Blake was keeping the blonde brute on their team entertained by reading to her. They soon saw the signature snow white airship approaching, bearing the SDC insignia. "Alright, everyone get ready. It's here." Weiss announced.

"But Mark isn't here yet. We can't go without him, He promised he would be here." Ruby whined.

"Well, we can meet him there." Weiss replied, avoiding her pouting girlfriend's puppy face.

"But-But -" Ruby stuttered, not noticing the cloaked figure drop behind them.

"Why are you talking about butts, Ruby?" Mark piped in, causing the four girls to jump. "Looking at Weiss'?" He added playfully.

"GAH! Don't sneak up on us like that!" Weiss yelled at Mark, only increasing his amusement.

"MARK!" Ruby shouted, tackling Mark in a hug. Mark stumbled a few steps before gaining his footing. "I missed you, Dad." she whispered, causing Mark's chest to swell with happiness.

"I missed you too." Mark whispered as he returned the embrace. "Now come on, let's go. Siegfried has a surprise for you, as do I."

"My secret first. "Weiss announced, as she pulled an envelope from her jacket. "Open it once we get to my home. Now let's go." Weiss said as she packed her bags away in the airship, with the other's following soon after. The trip was a quiet one, but Weiss noticed that the closer they got to Atlas, Ruby seemed to grow less cheerful, and more quiet and reserved. "What's wrong Ruby?" Weiss asked as she rubbed Ruby's shoulder. Ruby didn't respond at first, so Weiss repeated herself, this time, getting a reaction.

"What?" Ruby asked, startled.

"What's wrong?" Weiss asked, concerned that Ruby was becoming more and more distant.

"It's just that my mom's grave, it's not far from here." Ruby answered.

"Do you want to go visit her?" Weiss asked softly.

Mark was listening in. "We can go visit her once we drop off all our stuff. Your father will want to make sure you all arrived here safely first, and deviating our course will only cause him to worry." Mark lectured. Ruby and Weiss nodded, returning to look out of there respective windows. Mark took out his scroll, sending a quick message to Summer that they will visit her soon. They arrived at Weiss' family home, where she spent most of her childhood. It was a huge mansion, with beautiful garden, with many trees, bushes, and flowers, all covered by snow. They landed beside the road, on a landing pad. All the girls filed out of the airship, their bags being taken care of by busboys taking care of them. They approached the door, Weiss, ringing the doorbell to announce they were there. She was greeted by the warm smile of a long time friend of the family, Geoffrey.

"It's good to see you Miss Schnee." Geoffrey said as he bowed.

"Please, call me Weiss, Geoffrey." Weiss corrected.

Geoffrey merely smiled as he heard the running footsteps of Winter approach from behind.

"WEISS!" Winter shouted as she tackled her sister, knocking her to the floor.

"Winter!" Weiss laughed as she hugged her sister back. "It's good to see you. Look at you, you've grown a little."

"Yup." Winter chirped happily. She looked behind Weiss, seeing Mark and a couple of other girls she did not recognize. She gave a quick wave to Mark.

"Well, let me introduce you to my team. This is Yang Xiao Long," Weiss said, pointing to the blonde brute of their group. "Blake Belladonna," she announced next, motioning to the girl clad in black. "And our team leader, Ruby Rose." Weiss finished, presenting her girlfriend.

Winter greeted each of them happily. "Hi, Yang. Your dad is funny." Winter giggled, leaving Yang confused. "Your bow looks like kitty ears. they're soooo cute." Winter said next, causing Blake to blush. "And your my new sister right, Ruby?!" Winter finished giddily, causing the entire team to look at her in confusion.

"What do you mean, Winter?" Ruby chuckled nervously.

"You're dating Weiss right?" she dropped nonchalantly.

"How do you know?" Weiss asked astounded that her sister knew of Ruby and her's relationship.

"Daddy told me." Winter giggled. "Let's go, everyone's waiting for us." Winter announced as she started dragging Ruby and Weiss by their hands towards the living room. She barged in, greeting all of the people gathered around the fireplace.

"Dad?" Weiss and Yang questioned as they saw their fathers conversing.

"My daughter!" they greeted, holding their hands out as they awaited their hugs. After an exchange of greetings and catching up, Weiss asked her father what everyone was doing here.

"I invited them here for Thanksgiving. They'll be staying with us for the week. I hope that's alright." Sieg replied.

"It's a nice surprise." Weiss laughed. "Oh yeah, me and Ruby are going to go somewhere real quick, and we need to borrow the airship." Weiss asked.

"May I ask where?" Sieg questioned.

Weiss looked at Ruby, letting her answer if she wanted to. "We're going to go visit my mom." Ruby replied.

All conversation died down between everyone. A silence over fell the group. Tai was the first to break the silence. "We'll accompany you, It's been a while since we've visited her as well." he said, receiving a plethora of agreements among everyone.

"Okay, can you just let Mark, Weiss, and myself have some privacy first before you visit?" Ruby asked.

"Of course." Qrow answered.

"Come let's go girls." Mark said, getting the White Rose couple's attention.

They left the house, boarded the airship, and set off, Mark giving the coordinates of the site. He sent off a message to Summer that she was about to have everyone else find out the truth. He relaxed in his seat, awaiting what was coming to him.

Soon they arrived at the cliffside. They exited the airship, watching it take off. They walked towards the site where Summer's gravestone was. As they approached, Ruby and Weiss saw someone looking at the grave. A black cloak resembling Mark's missing one, hugging her figure, keeping her face hidden.

Ruby was the first to approach. "Did you know her?" Ruby asked.

"Yes, I knew her very well." the woman Mark recognized by her voice as Summer replied. "Did you know her?"

"Yeah..." Ruby replied, kneeling down, touching the gravestone. "She was my mother. I miss her so much. I only hope she's in a better place now and that she misses me as well."

Summer knelt down, hugging Ruby in a comforting embrace. "She does." Summer replied.

"W-What?" Ruby asked, her face blushing at the embrace.

Weiss, upon seeing the woman hug her girlfriend, started to approach to ask what was going on, but was stopped by Mark holding her back by his shoulder.

"But-" she started.

"I'll take care of it." Mark answered, walking towards the mother and daughter.

"Who are you?" Ruby asked, attempting to wriggle out of the embrace. The mysterious woman let go, grabbing the hood, pulling it down, so Ruby could see who she was clearly. Ruby stared at silver eyes, belonging to none other than her mother. She started to tear up, thinking she was seeing a ghost. "Y-You, b-but how..." Ruby stuttered.

"I'm so sorry I left you Ruby. I didn't want to, but-" Summer started, but was cut off by the sight of her daughter swinging a fist at her. Mark intercepted it before the strike could connect. He pulled Ruby away, before she could do any more. "WHY? WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME?!" Ruby screamed, beating against Mark's chest as he held her back.

"I was the one who asked her to leave." Mark lied softly to Ruby, causing her eyes to widen in realization. She stated to scream at Mark, yelling at him, asking why he did it. She could only feel hatred and fury towards him. She started to beat at his chest, trying to get away from him.

"Why!? How could you?! I thought you loved us?!" Ruby yelled at Mark, each word stinging. "I thought you wanted a family, but you split our family apart. Did you not want us to be happy since you thought you couldn't be a part of it. Well?! Answer me!" Ruby screamed.

"I-I'm sorry Ruby, but-" he tried to explain, but she wouldn't hear it.

"I HATE YOU! I WANT YOU OUT OF MY LIFE!" Ruby shouted vehemently, her voice dripping with venom.

Summer, hearing what her daughter had said, ran to stop her. "Ruby stop that this instant. It's not Mark's fault." Summer pleaded,

"Lies, you're only trying to cover up for him." she hissed. "I hate him. I never want to see him again." she repeated, feeling Mark let her go. She scrambled away from him as he fell to the floor, crying.

"No Ruby, you don't mean that. Please take it back." Summer begged as she approached her daughter once again.

"NO! Why should I? What has he ever done for me?" Ruby questioned.

"HE'S YOUR FATHER!" Summer shouted, silencing her daughter. "He gave up everything for us. If it wasn't for him, you wouldn't be here right now." Summer cried. "If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here right now."

"W-What?" Ruby asked, at a loss of words. She turned to Mark, seeing him crying. "I-Is this true?" she asked, unshed tears blurring her vision.

"I'll leave you two." Mark explained, emotionless. As he got up, wiping the tears and blood on his arm. "I'll tell everyone at the house that they can come now. I'll stay out of your hair." he finished as he brought out his scroll to send off the message.

"Mark, wait." Ruby pleaded, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.

"Mark." Summer spoke softly, grabbing his hand.

Mark paused for a moment. "I'll stay at my house. I'll come visit, I am still employed by Weiss and her family. Tell Ruby, that-" Mark stopped himself to recollect his thoughts. "-that I'm sorry for hurting her." Mark replied as he pulled his arm away, leaving a crying Summer and Ruby, with a shocked Weiss watching.

And angst. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. This one was a little difficult to write, especially when I was writing the part where Ruby was screaming at Mark. I feel happy as to how this chapter turned out. I would love some feedback though. Aside from that, I would like to say thank you for reading. Until next time.