"I'm alive," Weiss said to herself. She patted her body through her nightgown. She dug her fingers into the warm bedsheets. The glanced around the rom with an expression of wonder.

"I'm back!" she cried, leaping out of her bed and only just barely missing hitting her head on the bed above her. She ran to the window, her slippers not having the least bit of snow in them, as she lunged forward to yank open the curtains and let the blinging light pour in around her. Without a moment of hesitation, she slammed her hands into the cold glass and pushed the window wide open.

A chill instantly blew into the room, and Weiss was soon being touched by wind and snow. However, the sun shone brightly through the white clouds, reflecting off the snow and making the entirety of Remnant glow with life.

"Oh, grandfather!" Weiss cheered, a smile spreading across her face. "Oh Spirits! Thank you!"

She breathed deeply, taking in the crisp cold air. She giggled and basked in the chilled light, then leaned out the window to feel it more. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement below. She glanced down to see the figure of Jaune Arc trudging through the snow and wind, wearing a baby blue coat and mittens.

"Jaune!" Weiss shouted down.

He paused and looked around, but not up.

"Jaune!" Weiss called louder.

Finally, Jaune's dark blue eyes moved up to her, confused and concerned. "Weiss?" he asked. "Are you talking to me?"

"Yes!" Weiss hollered. "What day is it today?"

Juane shrugged. "Saturday?"

Weiss shook her head, allowing her loose white hair to shift and flow across the snow on her windowsill. "No, no. The date, what's the date?"

"It's the Holiday!" Jaune yelled up.

Weiss' mouth hung ajar. "The Spirits did everything in one night. Of course they did," she said to herself. Then she leaned out further and called back down to Jaune. "Jaune, do you know where my team is?"

Jaune nodded. "They headed to catch their boat to Patch. But the weather's so bad that no one will be able to leave. Pyrrha and I are stuck too. So I'm heading out into town to get something last-minute for the gift swap."

"The gift swap!" Weiss said, a clever smile on her face. The yelled back down to Jaune. "Stay there for just one moment!" Without waiting for an answer, she darted from the window and quickly over to her pile of belongings. She threw open the one that contained her combat outfit, messily upheaved it and dug into its pocket, and pulled out her dark blue credit card. She dashed back to the window, gestured to Jaune, and threw the card expertly down like a shuriken at him. Jaune slapped his mittens together to catch it in midair, but fumbled it into the snow. He grunted as he reached down and picked it up.

"That will give you access to the rest of my monthly allowance," Weiss explained. "And yes, it's a lot. Go into town and buy a bunch of gifts. As many as you can possibly buy. Make it a good selection, and focus on moderately priced items so you can get as much as you can. Also, get at least three items you think Ruby, Yang, and Blake will like and bring it all back to me."

"Uhh…" Jaune mumbled, still unsure what was going on.

"If you come back before my team does, you get to choose a gift to keep for yourself!" Weiss called down.

Jaune gave a smug expression. "A date maybe?"

Weiss raised an eyebrow, though not losing her smirk. "Don't push it, Jaune," she warned.

"Right, sorry," Jaune replied. He watched Weiss retreat from the window and, with a shrug, hurried off to the shops.

Weiss looked around the room, giddy with excitement. She fumbled her white combat outfit and clumsily put it on, shaking with glee and merriment and messing up a few times. Finishing off by tossing Myrtenaster into its place on her belt loop, she skipped over to the door, caressing the knob as she turned it and skipped out into the hallway.

Weiss passed many familiar faces in the hall. She saw teams from all year levels, boys, girls, Humans, Faunus, students, teachers. Every one she stopped to say "Happy Holiday!" to, and would give them a smile of joy. Very few were too surprised to not smile and wish back to her. She felt as light as a snowflake as she drifted towards the amphitheater. The place sparkled from the garland and tinsel, and the tree seemed to give off its own Aura of comfort and wonder. Some students had already gathered at the tables, carrying wrapped presents under their arms.

As Weiss passed through, she saw Pyrrha sitting at one of the tables, her head down. Weiss hurried over to her.

"Pyrrha!" she called.

The redhead lifted her head and put on a sad smile. "Hello again!" she said.

Weiss sat quickly down next to her. "I heard about the weather. I'm sorry."

Pyrrha shrugged, clearly trying to look happier than she was. "It's okay."

"I know it will be rough," Weiss said. "But we're all going to have a great time tonight, I promise."

Pyrrha looked at her curiously. "But I thought-"

"I know," Weiss interjected. "But please forget how I was. We're going to have the best Holiday we possibly can!"

Pyrrha's eyes brightened. "That you, Weiss," she said. "I needed that."

Weiss nodded welcomingly, then sprang up. She waved goodbye to her ally, then skipped forward until she bumped into someone.

"Apologies, Miss Schnee!" Professor Port said.

"Oh! Professor!" Weiss said, doing a small, clumsy curtsey. "What a wonderful day, isn't it!"

"Indeed!" Port replied, not showing the slightest bit of surprise at Weiss' new tone.

Weiss stood straight and pressed her two index figures together. "Sir? I was wondering if I could ask something…"

Port nodded. "Anything."

"Do you have any spare decorations or wrapping paper lying around?" Weiss asked.

Port nodded, then pointed to a cardboard box over by the stage of the amphitheater. It was overflowing with tinsel, a few wreathes, a few strings of lights, and four tubes of colorful wrapping paper. "Excess materials," he stated. "Take whatever you like."

"Thank you, sir!" Weiss exclaimed, rushing over to the box and snatching it up. She immediately darted back towards her dormitory room. "Happy Holiday!" she cried to Port and everyone in the room as she hurried as quickly as she could, carrying the box in her arms. She moved like a white blur through the halls of Beacon until she got back to the dormitory, giggling as she pushed the door open. Giddy to see that her teammates had not yet returned, she pushed the door closed with the bottom of her boot and set the box down, rubbing her hands together before digging them into the materials.

A half hour later, Weiss heard a knock at the door. Her heart jumped at first because she was not done with her project yet and she thought her teammates had arrived, but realized if that were the case, they would have walked right in. She hurried to the door and, just to be safe, opened it a crack. She was confused when she saw a stack of boxes at the door.

"Please let me in," the straining voice of Jaune came. "These are very… heavy…"

"Oh!" Weiss said, opening the door completely. Jaune staggered in, carrying a towering pile of at least a dozen or so boxes and packages of varying sizes. He stumbled a few more feet before finally tripping and collapsing, through the gifts simply bounced up and landed unharmed.

"Thank you, Jaune," Weiss said as he recovered, rubbing his head with his mittens. "You may choose something to keep." She waved her hand at the pile.

Jaune smirked and picked up a long box that had a picture of a brown wooden guitar on it. The two nodded to each other, with Jaune clearly not wanting to take up any more of her time. He turned and headed out the door.

"Jaune?" Weiss said.

Jaune turned back around.

"Happy Holiday."

Jaune smiled. "You too, Weiss." As he headed out with his new guitar under his arm, he closed the door behind him, and Weiss quickly got back to work.


Despite the words of comfort her friends had given to her, Ruby still was upset that she was not going home for the Holiday. As the three of them approached their dormitory door, Ruby felt a sense of apprehension and dread. While her plans and mood for the day had already been sullied, she was not ready for Weiss' response to everything. Even with her patient and good-hearted nature, Ruby was not sure she could handle Weiss' sourness today.

Just as her hand was reluctantly approaching to door handle, the girls heard the unmistakable sound of a throat clearing behind them. They turned around to see Weiss, her arms folded and her toe tapping, a cross expression on her face.

"Where were you all last night?" she asked in a haughty tone. "Your little note said you'd be back before morning."

Yang stepped up ready to answer. "We… were out even later than we expected, and we ended up staying at a hotel overnight that was closer to the docks so we wouldn't miss our boat. We should have called you."

"Yes, you should have," Weiss snapped, pushing past them and making her way to the door. She roughly grabbed the handle, making Ruby pull her hand away. Ruby stepped back, troubled.

"Weiss, it's the Holiday," Blake said, seeing Ruby's meekness and trying to encourage Weiss to lay off of her.

"Yes, it is," Weiss said bluntly. "And you know what I have to say about that?"

Yang tightened her hands into fists as her eyes turned red. She had almost enough of Weiss, and now she was further ruining her little sister's Holiday. Heiress or not, she was about to get punched. Blake winced, not ready for what was about to come, and even Ruby was about to yell at her.

Weiss twisted the doorknob and swung the dormitory door open, her expression immediately softening and her extending her arms towards the room.

"Happy Holiday, Team RWBY," Weiss said in a much more pleasant and relaxed tone.

All the other members of her team took a moment to comprehend what they were seeing and hearing. Ruby was the first to drop her guard, her eyes taking in the sight as she walked slack-jawed into their room. Blake was next, the bow on top of her head twitching. Yang's eyes went back to lilac as she walked alongside Bake, both flabbergasted, into the room.

The walls had been lined with garland, and wreaths dotted the walls. Around the posts of their beds hung colored lights, and glitter and tinsel lay on top of the desks and bookcase. The window was ever-so-slightly open, the curtains fully pulled open to reveal the winter wonderland outside.

"Wha-" Yang began before trailing off.

Weiss walked inside and pushed the door closed a bit, but did not latch it shut.

"Weiss, did you do all of this?" Ruby asked, still not sure what to think. Blake and Yang turned to face her to see her answer.

"Yes," Weiss said, crossing her hands behind her back. "I want to apologize. I haven't kept my promise to you, Ruby." Ruby turned to face her partner. "I've been a jerk. We all have things we need to work on if we're going to be a team, but none of that begins until all of you know you can trust and count on me. So that's why I'm going to do my very best to the best teammate I can be." She smiled to Ruby. "For real this time."

Ruby was still for a moment, then suddenly, in a burst of red and rose petals from her speedy Semblance, Ruby was back across the room, hugging Weiss tightly. It was Weiss' turn to be shocked, then she gently put her hand on her friend's back.

"Thank you, Weiss," Ruby said.

Weiss glanced over to Yang and Blake, who also wore large smiles. Yang gave Weiss a thumbs-up.

"Oh!" Weiss exclaimed as Ruby broke the hug and wiped a tear from her face. "I almost forgot."

Weiss skipped past her teammates and reached under her bed. She pulled out three gifts, one wrapped in red paper, another in yellow with orange ribbon, and the last in purple with a white bow. She handed each one to a member of the team. All three girls took a moment to admire the presents, then tore them open.

"Ooh!" Ruby said, holding a shiny red new Dust case. She opened it to see some crystals of Dust inside.

Yang opened the box to reveal a purple pendant, the same shade as her eyes, set in silver wrapped in a thin purple cloth with white designs. She ran her finger over the jewelry and equally admired it and the decorative cloth.

Blake unwrapped a large book with deep scarlet cover, decorated with dark green icons and images. She excitedly opened it up and flipped through the pages, taking in the expanse of words she was about to read.

"Can I just ask one favor from you all?" Weiss asked with an embarrassed smile on her face. She gestured to the corner of the room, where a small heap of similarly-wrapped gifts sat. "Would you mind helping me carry these to the gift swap tonight?"

All four girls laughed, and Ruby breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that this would be a good Holiday after all.


The Holiday feast was delicious. Students sat side by side with their peers and teachers as they ate a wonderful glazed ham, fruit and roasted nuts topped with sugar, a fizzy punch, steamed vegetables, and lots of chocolate and peppermint sticks. As soon as Ruby saw a large plate of chocolate chip cookies, it became her team's duty for the rest of the night to keep her from eating them all.

The gift swap took place in the crowded amphitheater, in the presence of the wondrous tree. Ren admired the lotus comb he had gotten, and Nora excitedly examined a bright red lava lamp. Jaune and Pyrrha swapped with each other; Jaune received a book on Grimm, and Pyrrha got a full weapon-cleaning kit. Many of the other Beacon students received gifts from an anonymous source, and were pleased to find them as useful and fun items like vibrant clothing books, and games. Ruby swapped with Blake, with Ruby getting a set of screwdrivers and Blake getting a small makeup kit.

Weiss watched smiling at the people trading presents, and especially watched the people opening the ones she had provided. As she looked out on the festivities, she saw Yang approach with a blue gift in her hand. She extended the gift to Weiss.

Weiss blushed. "No," she said, "it's okay. I don't deserve one."

Yang chuckled. "You got everybody else gifts."

Weiss shrugged. "I don't have one to swap with you."

Yang moved closer and placed a hand on Weiss' shoulder. "Listen, we had problems before, but what you've done today, especially for Ruby, is enough of a gift for me. This is her first Holiday away from home. Thank you for making it a good one. You've really done so much for her."

Weiss locked eyes with Yang. "Have I?" she said, almost to herself as well as Yang.

Yang pushed the present into Weiss' hands. "Happy Holiday, Weiss," she said with a smile before heading back to be with her sister.

Weiss looked whimsically down at the gift. She reached up and tore the paper off, revealing a small box. She opened the box up and reached inside, pulling out an elegant snow globe with the city of Vale, Beacon included, depicted inside. Her smile spread ear to ear as she wiped a tear from her face. She silently thanked Yang, then silently thanked her grandfather and the Spirits. She shook the snow globe gently, allowing it to come alive with a flurry of snow around the town, accurate to the world outside.

Weiss was better than her word. She did it all and so much more, and to Ruby, Blake, and Yang, became like a new sister. She became as good a friend, as good a teammate, as good a woman as any of her peers knew, and always knew how to celebrate the Holiday and handle it well. Every Holiday that Team RWBY spent together after that was always ensured to be a Happy Holiday.