TW this chapter for dysphoria, mentions of abuse, a mock-combat scene, mentions of sexual content, neglect, and discussion related to possible kidnapping and murder.

Hey everyone, sorry about the long wait between chapters. I had a bit of writer's block, but I should be past it now.

I don't own RWBY

Winter Schnee's apartment was a one bedroom luxury suite, it was clean of even the smallest clutter, with high end furniture and an eighty-six inch 4k television covering the wall. It truly was still the apartment of a Schnee, even if Winter had wanted to distance herself from the family. Weiss also knew that no one could ever afford an apartment like this unless they had ludicrous amounts of money. Fortunately for Winter, she still had access to the family fortune, and Jacques allowed her to take a portion as allowance.

Weiss had already chosen a couch to be her favorite for her time here, which she was anxiously waiting on.

She hadn't seen Ciel Soleil in years, not since Winter had gone off to college. As she waited for her to get there, her mind couldn't help but worry about Ciel reacting poorly to her being trans. Winter had, with her permission, told her over the phone while inviting her over, and it seemed as though she had reacted well, but she still couldn't help but think maybe she misunderstood.

She knew she would find out soon enough, as someone knocked on the door, causing her to slightly jump.

Winter stood, and opened the door, letting Ciel in. She looked remarkably similar as last time Weiss had seen her, she had the same professional haircut, the same simplistic fashion style, and a very similar makeup layout.

"Hello," Ciel said, giving a wave.

"Hi," Weiss said, nervously.

"Allow me to officially reintroduce you," Winter said, as she closed the door. "Ciel, this is my sister, Weiss. Weiss, Ciel."

"It's wonderful to remake your acquaintance, Weiss," Ciel said. "I feel that it is important to state that I don't judge you or see you any differently."

Weiss looked up, relieved.

"That means a lot to me, thank you," Weiss said.

"We'll need a few minutes to get your makeup ready," Winter said, picking up the makeup bag. "You should go get dressed."

Weiss nodded, shakily, and then grabbed one of the outfits. She stepped into the bathroom, trying to keep from panicking. She was excited for the opportunity to finally see what she was supposed to look like, and at the same time, terrified it would backfire like it had in the fitting room.

She put on her one shoulder top, her skirt, and her jacket, sliding the pantyhose on under the skirt.

Once everything was on, she reached out, her hand lingering on the doorknob.

Was she really ready for people to see her in an outfit that she liked?

She took a moment to keep herself from hyperventilating, fighting for control over her emotions. She forced herself to turn the knob, stepping back into the living room.

Ciel greeted her with a welcoming smile.

The process of applying the makeup was agonizingly uncomfortable. Weiss was trying as hard as she could to keep her eyes still, to prevent them from twitching and to prevent herself from flinching.

If anything could counter her stubborn reflexes, however, it was Ciel's remarkable skill.

It took a little over a half an hour, but eventually Ciel took a step back, smiling at her work. She helped Weiss up, and led her to a mirror.

Weiss stared at her reflection, and felt all ability to speak evaporate from her.

The cat eye was as perfect as Weiss ever could have hoped, the contouring was done flawlessly, the lipstick highlighted her lips remarkably. The balance had been perfect, it wasn't too much. The lipstick was a modest pink tone, which kept it from being too vibrant.

Weiss picked her jaw up off the floor, and struggled to form words.

"Th-thank you," Weiss stammered. Ciel smiled, giving a very slight nod.

"I'm happy to help," Ciel said. "And I'd love to teach you what I know."

"Before that," Winter said, from behind her. "You're missing two more things. First," Winter stepped over to Weiss, putting the silver necklace on her, as Weiss kept still. Winter grinned. "I knew it would match. And, second."

Winter handed Weiss the shoebox, and waited while Weiss put her boots on.

It felt so liberating, she finally felt like she reflected herself. She felt confidence in her appearance, she felt a small amount of self confidence in her body.

She hadn't felt that before, not once.

Weiss struggled to keep herself from crying and ruining all of Ciel's masterful work.

It was the best night of Weiss' life. They watched movies, they played board games like they used to, years ago. Weiss hadn't realized just how great it would feel to belong, to fit in. She felt accepted, she felt wanted as her. She never wanted the feeling to stop.

At one point in the night, she went into the bathroom, and once more took in her reflection.

A thought had crossed her mind earlier, and she had been slowly drifting to an answer.

It's not smart... it could easily backfire. Just one person sees this, and everyone might know, she thought.

But... I really need this. I really need this for when things get bad, for when I need something to keep me sane...

She took out her phone, and took a few pictures, keeping them for when she desperately needed a lifeline.

"Alright, we're doing four vs four," Yang said, zipping up her heavy leather jacket. "We're red team for today."

Ruby slipped on her paintball mask, and picked up her gloves.

"Here's the plan," Ruby said, turning to the two other members of their team. "I have eyes on the sky. I've got the best aim, so I'll clear whoever they have in the sniper nest. As soon as the sniper's down, you three are gonna make your first move. Without aerial cover, they'll be at a disadvantage."

The other two members of their team nodded. The, surprisingly taller, of the two, was Nora, who had eagerly accepted their offer to join them.

The shorter of the two, they hadn't seen before they'd already gotten all of their paintball armor on, so their identity was a complete mystery.

"Nora, you'll go around right. You've got our grenades, I want you to blow them out of cover."

"You got it!" Nora nodded.

"You two, pick them off while they try to find new cover. I cover from the nest," Ruby said.

"That's as good a plan as any," Yang said. "Alright, everyone ready?"

Nora and the mystery member both nodded, and they headed out onto the field.

Ruby waited for the alarm bell to ring, signifying the beginning of the match, and then she ran to the side, getting into position. She wasn't moving to her team's sniper's nest, she had played enough to know that made you an immediate target.

She ran to the side, waiting for someone to appear in the nest across the map.

And, sure enough, she saw blue team's sniper immediately take position.

Ruby wasted no time lighting him up.

"Son of a bitch!" he yelled, from across the map.

"He's down! Taking position!" Ruby called, running for the sniper nest. She heard her allies moving in.

And then, across the map, she heard the first advantage the enemy team had.

They were too smart for this plan.

"Church is down, scatter!" a woman's voice called.

"Darn," Ruby said, kneeling at the nest. She scanned the map, trying to locate the blue players.

Below, Nora managed to find one, and lobbed a grenade her way.

She couldn't believe the woman's reflexes, when she caught the grenade, and threw it back.

Ruby heard Nora grumbling as she walked off the map.

Yang charged forward, ending up between two of the blue players.

"Duck!" one of them called.

"There's a duck? Where!" the other asked. Yang quickly eliminated the first of the two, then rolled behind cover, narrowly avoiding being hit by the second. "Oh, you meant duck, like get down!"

"No shit," the first grumbled, as he walked away.

Yang readied herself to wheel around and grab a second elimination, when the woman who had thrown back the grenade fired from across the map, and Yang was out.

"Caboose, move in!" she called, frustrated.

Before Caboose could move in, however, the mystery member of red team ran past him, eliminating him from the game.

"Am I out?" Caboose asked.

"Yeah, you're out!" Church said, from off the map.

"I'm trying to find her!" Ruby said. She kept scanning, then she realized... if she couldn't see her below-

Ruby spun around just in time to feel a paintball explode on her chest.

"Sorry, kid," the woman in black paintball armor said, before running back down the ramp. Ruby sighed, walking off the battlefield. She had just made it off when the buzzer went off once more, ending the match.

"Red team wins," the announcer said, bored.

"Wait, we did?" Ruby asked, spinning around. She saw the mystery member walking back, a cocky sway to their gait.

"Hell yeah!" Yang said, reaching out to high-five their mystery victor.

The masked player accepted the high-five, and then continued through back to the changing rooms without saying a word.

"Seems like things have finally been getting better at school," Ilia said, on Blake's couch. She had her phone in hand, scrolling through Tumblr. Blake, on the other hand, was holding a Playstation-3 controller, half of her attention focused on Dragon Age II.

"What do you mean?" Blake asked.

"I mean, you don't look as lonely walking around," Ilia said. "As much as I'd like to be your best friend there, being a year and a half older doesn't give me too many opportunities to actually see you. Last thing I want is you being a recluse."

"Well, if it helps, I doubt my parents would let me," Blake said. "That's the whole reason I'm even there."

"And," Ilia said, raising an eyebrow.

"And... despite how much I didn't wanna go, I've actually been enjoying... having more friends," Blake said.

"There it is!" Ilia grinned. "I thought I'd never see the day. Well, only one question left to be asked."

Blake sighed.

"Interrogate away," Blake said, rolling her eyes.

"Have you thought about dating?" Ilia asked.

"Wh... what?" Blake asked.

"Dating," Ilia said. "There's quite a bit of decent people at school. No pressure, of course. I don't date often. But if you were interested, now's a good opportunity."

"I'm not sure," Blake said. "I've been in two relationships in my life, and from those, I don't know if dating's really... my specialty."

"Alright, listen," Ilia said. "Adam was an asshole. That's not on you. You're far better off without him. And we both had a lot of issues. That doesn't mean we should just give up on dating entirely."

"I know," Blake said. "I understand all of that, consciously. Past experience is still... hard to ignore."

"That's fair," Ilia said. "And if you're legitimately just not interested in relationships, then by all means, don't have one. Just make sure you're not robbing yourself of something you may want because of two bad experiences."

Blake nodded.

"I'll think about it," Blake said. "For now, though, I'll consider having more than just one friend to be plenty of progress."

Yang rubbed her shoulder, wincing, as they sat down in the garage.

"Damn, that stings," she muttered, as Tai pulled a box down from a shelf.

"I thought you always took every precaution," Tai said, mockingly.

"Okay, I did," Yang said. "What I wasn't expecting was three shots to the same spot all at once."

"I mean, we won," Ruby said, opening up a box. She absentmindedly brushed a thick layer of dust off of the flaps, before turning back to Yang. "And as your team leader, I appreciate your sacrifice."

Yang playfully stuck out her tongue at Ruby.

"I just can't believe that chick in the black armor was doing so well. She was carrying those idiots, most of the time it was just her against all of us," Yang said, taking the box Tai held out.

"So why are we cleaning out the garage again?" Ruby asked, looking up.

"Because I'm getting a bike rack installed," Tai said. "And I need all the clutter out of the way. Besides, any opportunity to go over all my college and high school stuff is one I'll gladly take."

"If that's true, why are most of these boxes so dusty?" Yang coughed, as Ruby sneezed, almost as if to prove her point.

"I've been focused on other things," he shrugged, before blowing the dust off of a different box and opening it up. "Oh, I forgot I had this!"

Yang raised an eyebrow as he pulled out a helmet, it was a dull silver cap with wings attached to the side. In his other hand was a hammer, made of foam and wood.

"Is that-" Yang scoffed.

"This is my Thor costume, from when we had our college Halloween party, during the first year. Qrow went as Hawkeye, who he still insisted was the best Avenger," he laughed. "That was a blast."

"I thought you were a jock growing up, not a mega-dork," Yang said.

"I take pride in having been both," Tai said.

"What are these?" Ruby asked holding up several old cards.

"Oh, those are Magic," Tai said. "Qrow and Summer were both all over the game, so they got me into it."

"And are these..." Ruby began, holding up old books and a bag of dice.

"Yup. We used to play second edition, back when we were sophomores. Qrow was the DM, of course, you know how theatrical he gets," Tai said. "I was always either our barbarian or our monk. James was our wizard."

"James?" Yang asked.

"Oh, yeah, back in high school we were friends with Mr. Ironwood. He was actually there for the costume party, too. He was Iron Man."

"Wow, I seriously underestimated how much of a geek you were back then," Yang smirked. "How did you not get beaten up?"

"Come on," Tai laughed. "A few people tried. It didn't last long."

"Did mom play?" Ruby asked, flipping through the books, trying not to cough.

"Yeah, she was usually our cleric," Tai said. "And then Glynda was usually our sorcerer."

"Glynda Goodwitch? No way," Yang said.

"You didn't hear that," Tai added. "I don't need you knuckleheads getting in trouble for asking her about her dungeons and dragons stories during class."

"Jaune's been running a game, I've actually been thinking about joining," Ruby said.

"You'd have a world of fun," Tai said. "Oh, no way!"

Yang saw him procure several game cartridges from the box he was digging through.

"I thought I lost these," he said. "Mortal Kombat 64, Wipeout, Ice Climber, Dr. Mario!"

"It'll be a miracle if any of those still work," Ruby said. "I still can't believe the NES is still running."

"Not every game console needs to have a bunch of bells and whistles," Tai said. "I forgot I even had Final Fantasy."

"What do you mean? You play Final Fantasy 7 all the time," Yang said.

"No," Tai said, and then held up a cartridge. "Final Fantasy. The first one."

"You're so old," Yang said. "This box just had a bunch of action figures."

"That can go over there," Tai said, pointing to their 'keep' pile. Yang nodded, and took a new box, opening it.

"Old magazines?" Yang asked. Tai quickly looked up, and pulled the box from her hands.

"I can take that one," he said. "That's not important."

Yang laughed, watching him blush slightly.

"Fair enough," she said. "I wouldn't want you looking through mine either."

"Not funny," he said. "Here."

He handed her a different box.

"It's so weird, it's like the 80's threw up in every box," Ruby said.

"Maybe that's because I grew up in the 80's," Tai said.

"Sure," Ruby said, jokingly.

Yang opened the box, and her eyes went wide. The first thing in the box was a picture, an old photo. Tai, Qrow, and Summer were in it, sitting around a tree. Qrow's hair was still jet-black, and he was clean shaven. Tai looked pretty similar to how he did now, and Yang could easily see what so many relatives always said, that Ruby was the spitting image of her mother.

But what caught her attention was the fourth person in the picture.

She'd seen pictures of Raven Branwen before, but usually only briefly, and she had always just been rushed on to keep from lingering on it.

In some ways, Raven looked very similar to her.

Raven was pale, to a degree Yang had only seen in one other person, Warren Schnee. Raven's eyes were a reddish brown, and she had a mane of hair very similar to Yang's, except it was much darker, the same color as Qrow's.

In this picture, she wore a maroon jacket, and was leaning against the tree.

Yang could tell by her makeup that she was the goth of that social circle.

She glanced up, and saw Tai and Ruby going through a box of old board games. While they were distracted, Yang slipped the picture into the pocket of her jacket, not ready to rush on from this just yet. She looked back down, and saw a scrapbook in the same box.

She started to look through it, seeing pictures of Taiyang as a young child, getting a little older from each group of pictures to the next.

Then, a series of pictures of him with Qrow, probably around twelve years old, at an arcade.

Tai with presumably his first girlfriend, a cheerleader Yang didn't recognize.

Then, several missing slots. She could see the marks from where the pictures had been, but they were gone. This went on for several pages, with the occasional picture still being present. Usually they were pictures of Tai, Qrow, and Summer bowling, playing some sport, or even a few of them playing dungeons and dragons with Ironwood and Glynda.

And then she, nearing the end, got to the first picture of Raven that was in the scrapbook.

Raven was in a hospital bed, holding a baby.

If Yang hadn't known any better, she would have thought that the picture looked like any family's would have.

Raven was smiling down at newborn Yang, exhausted, but she still looked happy.

Tai was still distracted, so she plucked that photograph out as well, and pocketed it. She could apologize later, but she wanted to be able to actually know what Raven looked like, to know who she was.

The rest of the scrapbook didn't offer much more information, most of the rest of it was pictures of herself, as an infant, many of the pictures also featuring Summer Rose.

She felt the urge to take one of the pictures of Summer, as her heart ached.

She remembered Summer.

She remembered her cookies, she remembered being picked up from daycare, she remembered how amazing of a parent Summer had been.

And then she was gone, too.

Yang wiped tears from her eyes, resisting the urge to take one. The pictures of Raven, she felt entitled to, but she knew Ruby had more of an entitlement to these ones.

"Yang?" Ruby asked, having seen her wiping her eyes.

Yang looked up, trying to pretend she hadn't been crying.

"Yeah?" she asked, surprised by how much her voice wavered.

"What is it?" Ruby asked, concerned.

Tai, however, saw the scrapbook in the box, and immediately realized what she had seen.

"I... should have labeled that one, I'm sorry," Tai said. "I can take that one."

Yang nodded, handing it back.

He closed the box, setting it in the 'keep' pile, and then turned his full attention to her.

"The missing pictures," Yang said. "They were the ones that had her, weren't they?"

"Yeah," Tai sighed. "After she left, I... I was angry, and hurt, and I got rid of them."

Yang nodded.

"I just wish... I just wish I had a chance to talk to her, even just once," Yang said.

"I wish that, too," Tai said. "I'm sorry, Yang. It's not fair that she wasn't there for you."

Yang buried her head in her hands, a storm of emotions brewing.

"And you don't know where she went?" Yang asked.

"I know she had been talking about going to Montana," he said. "But when she left, I tried to see where she went. She wasn't in any of the places she'd talked about before."

"Do you think she's still... alive?" Yang asked. "Or did something happen to her?"

"I'm not fully sure," Tai said. "But I know she was capable. Qrow and Raven were raised in some tough conditions, and she always had a weapon on her. On top of that, she just... always struggled with commitment."

"So... she probably just... left," Yang sighed.

"That's what seems most likely," Tai said.

Yang nodded again.

"I'm gonna go shower," Yang said, standing up. "I'm covered in dust and paint and I need a minute."

Tai nodded.

"Alright," he said.

Ruby couldn't help but notice as she and Yang were walking to school, Monday morning, that Yang seemed distracted. She hadn't said anything all morning, except to thank Tai for breakfast.

All of Sunday had been spent doing yard work with Tai, and Yang had been at the mall, working a shift at Jamba, so the last time Ruby had held a decent length of conversation with her had been Saturday afternoon.

Ruby didn't need to be a genius to know what was going on. She was determined to break Yang's silence that morning.

"You really are the best sister anyone could ever ask for," Ruby said. Yang looked up, raising an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean, you were practically my mother growing up," Ruby said. "You took care of me for years, even when dad didn't. You've always believed in me, and it means the world to me that you're such a supportive older sister."

"Thanks," Yang said, slightly confused.

"Where I'm going with this is, you've always been here for me, and now I wanna be here for you," Ruby said. "I can tell those pictures of your mom really-"

"She's not my mom," Yang interrupted. "Summer Rose was my mom. Raven was never there."

Ruby nodded.

"Alright," Ruby said. "Then, I can tell those pictures of Raven really got to you."

"You don't have to take care of me, Ruby," Yang said.

"And you didn't have to take care of me," Ruby argued. "But you did."

Several seconds passed before Yang spoke.

"I just wanna know what happened," Yang said. "I know dad said she probably ran off. But in the picture of me, as a baby, she seemed... I don't know... happy?"

"You think something else happened?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know," Yang said, frustration rising in her voice. "I don't know, I don't have any way of knowing, and I never will!"

Another several seconds passed in silence. Ruby's heart sank, as she tried to think of the words to pull Yang from the spiral she was in.

"You don't know that," Ruby said. "You're smart, even if people always underestimate you. I know there's an answer somewhere, there has to be. And if anyone can find it, I know you can."

"I don't even know if I want to know," Yang said. "I mean, what are the options? Either she really did abandon me, just left me to fend for myself, or... something really bad happened. Like something from one of those crime shows, you know?"

Ruby winced at the thought.

"If she didn't leave me willingly then what happened to her? Was she murdered?" Yang asked. "Or... worse?"

"If you want to know, I know you can find out," Ruby said. "But if not... just remember you do have family here to lean on. I know this is hard. Maybe not in the same way, but I know what it's like to miss a parent, even to feel abandoned by them. I know dad can be... distant... but I can take care of you, too."

Yang sighed.

"I appreciate the offer," Yang said. "But I can handle it."

As she spoke, they neared the school.

Ruby sighed, as she saw Warren and Blake get off the bus, bickering as usual.

"Hey, Blake!" Ruby called, hoping to give Blake an excuse to walk away from the argument.

"Go on, run along now," Warren snapped, as Yang and Ruby walked up.

"Gladly," Blake seethed, as Warren walked off towards the school.

"More of the same?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah," Blake said, irritated. "Friday it was trans rights, this time it was immigrants. It's always something, and he can't just keep his conservative mouth shut."

"Yeesh," Ruby said. "How about you hang out with us, then?"

Blake nodded, as they walked up to the school.

"I just hope my day gets better," she sighed.

Thank you for reading chapter ten! Chapter eleven is almost done, and should be out in a bit. As usual, I appreciate all reviews and criticism.