Here we are at Chapter 42. Time to get back into the story and see if Velvet and Weiss can patch things up. I do not own RWBY or Tales of Berseria. They belong to their respective owners. Here's chapter 42. Enjoy.

Chapter 42: Understanding

Velvet walks off to who knows where, just trying to get as much space between herself and Weiss after their little argument. Anyone who is nearby quickly put twenty feet between themselves and her when they see the livid look on her face.

"I don't get it. Why would Weiss defend Winter after she berated her like that. Sure, she may be her older sister, but that doesn't give her the right to bring Weiss down like that. Ugh, and I thought I had a dysfunctional family," she thinks as she continues walking.

After walking for who-knows-how-long, Velvet somehow comes across a pavilion not too far away from the school. The pavilion is ornate and open to the air, with the walls made up of two rows of columns and archways through which the sunlight streams in. Vines grow beautifully around the columns, with plants hanging down from above and growing in vases. Inside the pavilion, a large fountain is seen at the center, with seats and tables at the edges. A water feature of a lion is seen at one end. Looking around, Velvet finds that the place is empty. Walking into the center of the pavilion and staring at the fountain, Velvet finds the atmosphere here a little relieving in a way and decides to cool off here for a while. She walks over and sits at one of the tables.

Velvet sighs, "This day's not even over, and I'm already beat. I think I'll take a little nap for right now," she mutters and closes her eyes as she falls asleep.

…

Meanwhile, Weiss walks back to her dorm room, looking just as angry as Velvet. Anyone nearby quickly run for the hills in fear of being frozen solid by the ice queen.

"That stupid idiot. Winter was not being degrading of me at all. She had no reason to explode on her like that and go from an argument into an all-out brawl. Geez," Weiss says and finally reaches her dorm room.

She opens the door, and finds only Yang inside, sitting on her bunk and playing a game on her scroll.

"Oh, hey Weiss. What's up? Did you get to see your sister?" Yang asks, but when Weiss ignores her and sits on her bunk and pulls out a textbook with an angry scowl, she grows concerned. "Weiss, what's wrong?" she asks as she jumps off her bunk and walks over to Weiss.

"Nothing's wrong. I was able to see my sister, and then I decided to come back here. It's no problem," Weiss replies without looking up from her textbook. Yang, however, just sits next to Weiss and quickly pulls the book out of her hands. "Hey, Yang, I'm not done with that!" Weiss exclaims.

Yang puts the book away and looks back at Weiss, "Weiss…what's wrong? You can talk to me," Yang pleads with her.

Weiss just crosses her arms and looks away, "I said it's nothing. I'm fine!" Weiss retorts.

"Weiss-," Yang begins.

"I said I'm fine, OKAY!" Weiss yells as she faces Yang again. However, when she sees the half-scared, half-saddened face of Yang, she quickly loses her anger. "Y-Yang, I'm sorry, I just-I-," Weiss stutters until Yang wraps her arms around her and she stops talking.

"Weiss, please, calm down. Just tell me what's wrong. You're my girlfriend, and I hate seeing you like this. Please, let me help you," Yang pleads with her as she rubs her hands up and down on Weiss' head.

Unable to find the desire to break free, Weiss relents, "I just…Ruby, Velvet, and I went to see my sister. She greeted me as she usually does, which isn't as bad as you'd think, sort of. But Velvet got mad at her, and they ended up getting into an argument that evolved into a fight. After the fight was stopped, Velvet and I argued and we both stormed off in opposite directions. She went one way, and I came here, and that's about it," Weiss explains the earlier events.

"What did your older sister say?" Yang asks, still keeping her arms around Weiss.

"Well, she commented on my performance during the first round in the tournament, and when she asked me about how I was doing here, I assumed she meant my school ranking. However, that wasn't what she meant and she…smacked me on the head-," Weiss says.

"She did WHAT?!" Yang yells as she looks at Weiss, eyes turning red.

Weiss puts her hands on Yang's cheeks, "Yang, it's okay. It didn't really hurt. Besides, I've been through worse," she says and kisses Yang's cheek to calm her down, which it does as her eyes turn lilac again. "As I was saying, I introduced her to Velvet and Ruby. Velvet didn't really care about what about what Winter said about her, but when she made a comment about Ruby, Velvet flipped and they ended up fighting," Weiss explains.

"Okay, from what I can tell, it looks like Velvet was just defending you guys," Yang notes.

"But it's not what it looks like. Winter was the one that helped me with my training to become a huntress back in Atlas. She was a little tough on me, but she's a soldier; that's how they're supposed to act. Plus, she was just keeping up appearances. She really does care about me, she just has a certain way of showing it," Weiss says.

"…Well, did you ever think about how Velvet sees it for a second?" Yang asks.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Weiss asks.

"Well, remember what Velvet said about her past. How her brother-in-law killed her younger brother, and then tried to have her killed several times in the past. I don't know, maybe she saw something like that here with you and your sister. Think about it, we all know that your family, aside from you and your sister, are a bunch of jerks. Maybe she sees a little bit of herself in you, or maybe of her younger brother in you, and was just acting on that protective instinct of hers. I know that if someone insulted Ruby or you, I would break them in half, so maybe that's how she feels here," Yang explains.

"I…didn't really think of it that way," Weiss mutters.

"Exactly. Now, I'm not saying your sister is a bad person, but you have to remember, Velvet doesn't know her that well, and does not have a good track record when it comes to things like family. What I think you should do is first find Velvet after she's cooled off and try and talk things out with her. Tell her about Winter so she can better understand her and maybe get them together to talk things out. You can't just avoid each other all day, every day you know. We do live together after all," Yang suggests.

"I…suppose I could give it a shot. I just hope she'll be willing to listen to what I have to say," Weiss notes.

Yang kisses her on her cheek, "Don't worry about. Thanks to Ruby, Velvet's become more open and a little mellower since she joined the team. You'll be fine," Yang says.

"Thanks Yang. I guess I'm quite lucky to have such a dependable girlfriend such as you," Weiss says.

"Hey, I always knew I'd melt that ice cold heart of yours. After all, I burn you know," Yang makes a terrible pun.

"On second thought, maybe I should rethink this relationship," Weiss flatly replies.

"Hey!" Yang retorts.

Neither of them realize that Weiss forgot to close the dorm room door…nor that Winter was standing outside of their room, listening in on their conversation before she decided to leave.

…

Back in the pavilion, Velvet was enjoying the peace and quiet, finally starting to cool off after the events of earlier that day. Of course, all good things must come to an end as she hears footsteps approaching her. She opens her eyes and looks to find the last person she wanted to talk to, Winter Schnee. In her hands are three plates with crescent rolls and strawberries.

"What are you doing here?" Velvet asks, eyes narrowed.

"I didn't come to fight. I only came to talk. May I sit with you?" Winter asks.

"Be my guest. I doubt you would listen to me otherwise," Velvet says. Winter places the plates down and sits across from Velvet. "What's with the plates? Some kind of piece offering? And why are there three?" she asks.

"Peace offering, no. And there are three because I asked my sister to join us here shortly, though she doesn't know that you're here. I wanted to take this time to speak with you, WITHOUT my sword this time," Winter explains.

Velvet crosses her arms, "And what would we have to talk about?" she asks, a hint of defiance in her words.

"Family. I would like to know more about your family," Winter asks out of nowhere.

"Why would I tell you about that? And what's with the sudden interest in my past?" Velvet asks.

"How about I tell you about my family first?" Winter suggests, and eventually Velvet nods. "Well, I'm sure you are already aware of my father, as Weiss has told you. Like her, I do not get along well with him, and it has only gotten worse since I joined the military. I don't have a good relationship with my younger brother, just like Weiss, because he is more like our father's loyal little pet. A selfish boy that only lives to please his father in order to get under his good graces. And finally, there's my mother. It's not that we don't get along, rather it's more like she's too drunk or busy finding her next drink to really have a relationship with me. That's about it," Winter explains.

"You forgot about the part where you treated Weiss like trash," Velvet says with some venom in her words.

"Then allow me to explain myself…As a soldier, I have had to see many things beyond the walls of the kingdoms, things that Weiss may one day face. As a soldier, I have to be strong to survive, and sometimes have to be cold as well. When Weiss decided to become a huntress, I trained her at our home when I was around. I had to be tough on her, because it was the best way to prepare her. To be able to leave our prison of a home, and break free from our father's grasp like I did," Winter explains, making Velvet glance away in thought. "Believe me when I say that I love my little sister. All I want is for her to walk her own path in life, free from our father. I may be hard on her sometimes, but it's because the dangers outside the kingdoms will not be merciful, and I just want her to be okay. I don't want to lose her," Winter says, her expression softening.

Velvet looks back at her, less disdain in her eyes, "I…guess I may have misjudged you. I'm…protective of my friends, so when I saw you behave the way you did with Weiss earlier, I just reacted on emotion and instinct. Maybe I went a little too far. It's just…my family history isn't a good one, and I don't really like talking about it," she says.

"Well, I was actually a little glad you did. It just means that you care about my sister. I'm glad she's found such good friends. And yes, having do deal with a brother-in-law like yours definitely would complicate things," Winter says, shocking Velvet.

"What? How did you-," Velvet begins.

"I overheard my sister talk with her girlfriend about it, though they didn't go too deeply into detail, just the basic stuff. I am sorry you had to go through all that," Winter stops her.

Velvet grunts, "Hmph. You really are a soldier huh," Velvet says.

"Well, I was there more in the capacity of a worried older sister, really. And I will be asking Weiss about her significant other when she arrives. Would you be willing to tell me some things about them?" Winter asks with a small smirk.

Velvet quickly figures out where she's going with this, "…Only if you tell me some things about Weiss from back home. And they better be good," Velvet says, showing the same smirk.

"You know, Velvet Crowe, I think you and I can become good friends," Winter replies.

…

Weiss walks through the school grounds towards the pavilion after receiving a text message from her sister. Her business with the headmaster and the general had ended and she wanted to speak with her while she had some time.

"I hope my sister has calmed down somewhat. Still it will be nice to speak with her after so long. And after we're done, I'll find Velvet and talk with her. While I still don't like how she treated my sister, I didn't do much better with her, so I need to fix that," Weiss thinks out loud.

However, as she nears the pavilion, she can hear the faint sound of laughter ahead of her. This confuses her a little bit, and as she gets closer, the laughter gets louder…and more familiar. When she finally gets into the pavilion, her eyes widen at the sight before her. Velvet Crowe and her sister Winter Schnee, two woman who were previously trying to KILL each other, are now laughing together like they were best friends.

"You mean Weiss tried to cook something for Yang one time and ended up burning a cake three times before she decided to just buy one instead?" Winter asks as she tries to calm her laughing down.

"Velvet chuckles, "Heh-heh-heh-heh, yep, not to mention the third one ended up blowing up when she tried to take it out of the oven too soon. It covered most of the kitchen, and ALL of her. It was ridiculous. When we showed up and saw the mess, Weiss tried to run out of there, only for Yang to stop her. Yang then started licking the cake batter that was on her face. Weiss freaked out, got as red as Ruby's cape, and quickly made her way out of there. She ended up locking herself in the bathroom for an hour as she tried to wash the cake batter out of her hair. Meanwhile, we had to clean up the kitchen. Not that fun, but it was worth it to see that look on her face," Velvet says as she starts snickering again.

"Oh my, I only wish I could've seen that for myself," Winter says.

"Actually, I think I could help you out with that," Velvet says.

"W-W-What…" they hear and look to see Weiss with a flabbergasted look on her face. "W-W-What is going on here?" she stutters.

"Oh, hey Weiss. I was just chatting with your sister here. I must admit, she's pretty cool once you get to know her. No pun intended," Velvet says, gesturing to Winter.

"None taken. And I must say the same for you. Weiss, I can't believe you didn't tell me about your little disaster in the school kitchen. You and I know that you don't know how to cook that well. It was definitely entertaining to say the least," Winter adds.

Weiss starts looking back and forth between the two woman, "What-but-how…I thought you two hated each other?!" she yells.

"Well, I admit that we didn't exactly start off on a good note, but after talking with each other for a little while, we've learned to move past that, and now we get along pretty well. And she has told me some interesting things about you back when you were little. Such as that one time when you tried using your semblance and some ice Dust to make a little skating ring back home…and ended up accidently using the wind Dust instead and blew yourself into three trees. I never would've thought the Schnee heiress would screw up with Dust," Velvet says.

Weiss' jaw drops wide and her face goes red. Here, her friend and sister were getting along. While that's good, what's definitely NOT good is that they're both revealing her most embarrassing moments in life to each other.

"It was one time! Winter, please, don't tell her anything else! Velvet, you too! Please, that's enough!" she begs them, which only ends up being even more embarrassing.

"That reminds me, Weiss, you never told me you had a girlfriend," Winter says, getting a little more serious.

Immediately, Weiss becomes paler than anyone thought possible. She knew her father would not approve of Yang, and never bothered telling him. But she wasn't sure if she could tell Winter. She valued her older sister's opinion, but she was afraid of what her opinion of Yang would be if she told her the truth.

"Well, I, um…" Weiss stutters.

"Weiss. Come sit," Winter gestures to the third chair in between them, though it sounded nothing like a request. Weiss sits down and finds it a little hard to look her sister in the eye right now. "Weiss, look at me," Winter says, and Weiss finally does. "Now then, I want to know why you didn't tell me you had a girlfriend," Winter questions her.

Weiss looks at her sister sadly, but sighs in resignation, "I didn't tell you because…I was afraid. I was afraid of what you would think about her. About me. Of course, Father wouldn't approve, but don't care about his approval. However, I do care about yours, and I was afraid you wouldn't approve. One because she's a girl, and two, because she's not like us. She's not from a high-society family, and she doesn't act like us either. I was afraid that you would make me break up with her, and honestly…I don't want to do that," she says.

Winter's expression softens a little bit at this, "Weiss…what do you think about her? About Yang?" she asks.

"Well…She's not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to her grades. She would slack off rather than study. She leaves her stuff lying around. Her attire can be ridiculous sometimes. She's loud and rambunctious, and don't even get me started on her fighting style…But…She's also strong, and really caring. She listens to what I have to say, and values my opinion. When she does something she likes, she gives it her all, and she's always been there for me. She cares about my feelings, and is willing to go at my pace. She does her best to make me happy, and I just feel more…loved and free when I'm with her," Weiss says, smiling at thinking of her girlfriend.

"Does she make you happy?" Winter asks.

"Yes. Happier than I've ever been before," Weiss replies.

"Then I approve," Winter declares.

"Wait, what?" Both Weiss and Velvet ask, confused.

"I'm saying I approve of your choice for a significant other. Weiss, all I want is for you to be happy, and if this girl makes you happy, and treats you right, then I see no reason to separate you two. Miss Crowe her has told me much about you two, and after hearing your opinion of Miss Xiao Long, I can say that I am happy that you found someone that cares about you so much," Winter explains.

Weiss smiles at this, "Thank you, Winter. I'm happy to hear that," she says.

"Of course…However, you will have to pay a price for keeping such as secret from me," Winter notes.

"Wait, what?" Weiss asks, getting nervous.

"Oh yeah, while we're at it, maybe now you could explain why you described me as 'bold' in your letter to Winter," Velvet adds.

"Uh, hold on for a second," Weiss says, but the older women just leer at her, "Um, can't we talk about this?" Weiss pleads.

The other two glance at each other, "…No," they say together before smirking towards Weiss.

And that's the chapter. Well, at least things have smoothed over for Velvet and Winter, even if it's at the expense of Weiss. This past episode of RWBY left me worried about her, so I thought about doing something like this for her. Plus, I will NOT lose hope for her. Anyway, will Weiss survive Velvet and Winter's plan for her, LOL? What awaits them in the next stage of the tournament? Until then, please Read and Review.