A/N: Thanks to popular demand, I've decided to come back with another chapter! I've got at least one, possibly more, planned after this, so please stay tuned, and I really want to thank all of you for the kind words and support! This story is very personal and dear to me, so it really means a lot that you enjoyed it! Thanks for sticking with me!

The common room was still, an oddity given how many people had been gathered there that evening. The fireplace in the corner crackled quietly as the expressions of each guest went through a range of emotions, most confused, at first, some shocked, but the three that mattered most were all smiles, adoration and acceptance painted across each face.

Weiss's heart was hammering in his chest, his palms sweaty as he clenched and unclenched his fists, the anxiety eating him alive as he anticipated each person's response. After revealing his newfound identity to Ruby and Blake, who were both quick to shower their teammate with happy hugs and proud words of encouragement, Weiss had called each of their remaining travel companions into the inn's common room to let them all in on the revelation. Only seconds had passed since he had finished speaking, but each one that ticked by in silence had felt like an eternity of unspoken judgment.

Everything had just happened so fast. He could barely even remember the way he had felt just the night before, couldn't even recall if there was ever a time he'd questioned whether or not he truly was a girl. All he could remember was feeling lost, incomplete, with no clear answers as to why or what had been missing. But after seeing his reflection for the first time since his complete makeover, there was absolutely no doubt in his mind; Weiss was, and always had been, a boy. And the more he thought about it, about his upbringing, about all of those confusing emotions he'd kept locked up in inside, how he'd always felt ugly no matter how pretty the person staring back at him in the mirror was made to look, it just… made sense.

For the first time in his entire life, he felt whole. But at the same time, he had never been more terrified. All of this was just so new, so… so different than anything he'd ever experienced, and he knew that as soon as he had to face his family again, he'd have to deal with the inevitable disapproval, and possibly even rejection, his father was sure to give. He just hoped—oh, how he hoped—that his traveling companions would take much kinder to the new Weiss.

"So… you're sure?"

Finally, someone had spoken. Weiss looked up to face the owner of the voice, Nora. Of course she would be the first to voice her thoughts.

"Like, you're sure you're sure? Because that's totally fine, this new you looks awesome and as long as you're happy, we're happy, but this seems like a really drastic change, and it could be difficult to change back, an—"

She was cut off by a hand over her mouth, Ren simply nodding his approval toward Weiss as he silenced Nora to let the others have a chance to speak.

"Yes, I'm sure," Weiss answered, giving them both the smallest of smiles. He shifted nervously, turning to look at Yang, the person who had truly been Weiss's rock through this entire process. If it hadn't been for Yang, Weiss wasn't sure if he'd ever been able to come to this discovery on his own. The mere thought was daunting, one he didn't even want to consider, so he pushed it back down, and did his best to show his gratefulness toward Yang by offering her a bigger, warmer smile, and a gentle nod.

Oscar was the next to speak. "I haven't really known you all that long, but whatever you want to be, that's fine with me." His timid, autumn-colored eyes lit up as he momentarily went silent, the way he always did whenever Ozpin seemed to be saying something to him. As if on cue, he nodded, and started to speak once more. "Ozpin agrees. He said he's glad you've found yourself."

Weiss let out a breath of relief, not that he'd been too worried about Professor Ozpin. The headmaster had always seemed to have the best interests of his students in mind, and he somehow had always been able to read their inner turmoils, no matter how hard each of them had tried to keep them hidden. Perhaps it was just one of his abilities as a wizard, but Weiss had a feeling that it was just a product of having been reincarnated lifetime after lifetime. He had probably seen all kinds of people from all different walks of life that Weiss and his teammates had never even imagined.

"Thank you, Professor," Weiss told him. "And you, too, Oscar."

So that left Jaune, Sun, Qrow, and… Blake's friend who had been avoiding Weiss like the plague ever since she'd decided to accompany their group, and had only come to this meeting reluctantly because she didn't want to be left alone. Clearly, this girl couldn't care less who or what Weiss identified as; she just looked like she wanted to crawl into bed.

Jaune still seemed to be having a difficult time mulling over all of this new information. That made sense, of course; Jaune had had quite the crush on Weiss for the longest time back at Beacon, and Weiss didn't blame him for feeling the slightest bit awkward about it now. But, eventually, he lifted his head, and met Weiss with a light chuckle. "So I guess this means the guys now officially outnumber the girls."

Nora finally managed to push Ren's hand away from her mouth, and rolled her eyes at her leader. "As if you didn't already outnumber us before Weiss and Yang showed up at Haven." She glanced at Weiss with wide eyes, realizing what she'd just said. "I mean, before you were… you!"

"It's okay, Nora," Weiss said breathily. "I know what you meant." He smiled at each of them, glad to see that, so far, everyone seemed to be taking this relatively well. However, there was still one person left in the room who still hadn't answered—aside from Qrow, but he the way kept glancing at his Scroll to check the time told Weiss all he needed to know; that Qrow was just as disinterested in this version of Weiss than he had been the original. So he turned his attention to Sun, who seemed to be staring off into space, deep in thought. He cleared his throat, hoping to get the other boy's attention, but to his dismay, Sun didn't seem to notice.

Weiss hadn't been the only one who seemed to find Sun's behavior odd. Beside him, Blake was eying the boy curiously, if not showing a little offense at his complete lack of attention. She nudged him in the side, and finally, Sun blinked out of his trance, and met Blake with narrowed eyes.

"Hey, what'd you do that for?"

She gestured toward Weiss. "Did you even hear a single thing Weiss said?"

Sun furrowed his eyebrows. "Of course I did!" He turned to Weiss with a smile. "I was actually thinking about what we're going to call you now!"

"What to call me?" Weiss frowned. He hadn't even thought about picking out a new name; he was actually pretty fond of the one he already had. "I was hoping I could still just be Weiss."

"Right, that's fine and all, but what about this whole secret identity in Atlas thing you were talking about?" Sun asked, crossing his arms. "You've already gone through all of the trouble of changing your look, but if you really want to stay out of the public eye, then you need something for us to call you other than 'Weiss'."

Oh. He hadn't considered that, either. Of course the people in Atlas would probably immediately associate him with a Schnee if they'd heard his name was Weiss, even if he had changed his look and identity since he'd been there last. But was adopting a new name really necessary? How would he know when to use that over the one he'd been going as since birth?

"I hate to say it, but Sun has a point," Yang added, standing from her spot on one of the lounge chairs in the corner of the room. She walked over to Weiss, a look of concern shining in her violet eyes. "The reason we started this little experiment in the first place was to get you through Atlas unnoticed so we don't run into any unexpected trouble with the Relic. But I'm sure we'll be running into Ironwood, maybe even your sister, if you're right about the military patrolling the border."

"Oh, we'll definitely be running into them," Qrow finally chimed in, his voice raspy and devoid of any particular emotion, the way it always seemed to be. "And Big Sis is definitely going to put two-and-two together if she hears a Weiss with white hair and blue eyes is traveling in our party."

Weiss sighed. "Okay, okay, I get it. I need to have an alias."

Sun started to perk up again. "Great! So do you want to hear what I've come up with?"

Qrow moved away from the wall he'd been leaning on, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "I'll let you kids handle this. I don't care what name you come up with, so long as you don't waste the whole night doing it. We've got to be on that boat first thing in the morning."

"Don't worry, we'll be prepared," Weiss assured him. He watched Qrow leave the common room, Oscar in tow behind him, and once Weiss and his friends were alone, he turned back to Sun with a raised brow. "Alright, Sun, let's hear it."

The blond boy looked shocked that Weiss had actually called on him, but that seemed to quickly subside as he grinned at Weiss excitedly. "What do you think about Snow?"

He gave Sun a blank stare. "You do know that my last name already means 'snow', right?"

"I didn't…" Sun sank back against the couch cushions, a look of defeat on his face as he had probably spent the entirety of Weiss's revelation thinking of that single name.

"Is that all you had?" he asked anyway, just to be sure. Sun nodded bashfully, earning a smirk from Blake. Weiss pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling slowly. "Well then, I guess that brings us back to square one."

Yang clapped a hand to Weiss's back, taking him by surprise, and causing him to slightly stumble. He steadied himself against Yang's weight as his teammate cheerfully grinned. "Don't worry, Weiss, we'll come up with something!"

"How about something like… Cane?" Ruby suggested. "It's white, like your hair, and it kind of fits your new look."

"Please, Weiss is way too prim and proper for a name like that," Nora joked.

Weiss huffed. "I am not! And it's not like it's going to be a real name, anyway!"

"Yeah, but it should still be believable." Nora let out a thoughtful hum. "Oooh! What about Slate?"

"I… actually don't hate it," Weiss agreed with a short nod. "Noted."

Blake sat forward in her seat, her brows furrowed. "So how many names do we need to come up with? You don't plan on getting an entirely new ID, are you?"

He shook his head. "I don't think we even have time for something like that right now. I'm still Weiss Schnee, I'm just going to be temporarily using another name."

"Qrow said he could get us all past the border without having to do all of that security stuff," Ruby commented. "We just need to make sure the General knows we have the Relic."

Weiss frowned. While he was finally starting to realize just how important these Relics were, he wasn't so sure getting into Atlas would be as easy as Qrow had been making it out to be. The last time he'd heard Ironwood, the General seemed pretty hellbent on not allowing anyone in or out of the kingdom's walls without his consent. Even though he was meant to be protecting the Atlas Relic, there was just no telling whether he'd be willing to trust Oscar enough in this form to let them all in. So much was at stake, now, and everywhere Oscar, Qrow, Ruby, and their allies went, Salem and her followers were sure to be following a few steps behind. It was only a matter of time before they would all be faced with danger once more.

Yang seemed to notice Weiss's hesitation, because she gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze of reassurance and turned to him with worried eyes. "You okay?"

"I'm just thinking I'll need a fake surname, too," he asserted quickly, not wanting to voice his doubt. They all already had enough on their plates as it was. "Just in case anyone asks."

"So does that mean you're going with the name I chose?" Nora asked hopefully.

Weiss sighed. "I guess I can live with it."

The bubbly redhead pumped her fist in the air triumphantly. "I got to name the Ice King! Yay!"

Wow, that nickname sounds even more petty than 'Ice Queen', Weiss thought to himself halfheartedly. He furrowed his eyebrows as he met the gazes of everyone else in the room, thankful that they all still seemed to be taking this so well. He knew that this sudden information dump had taken time and focus away from their mission, and he admittedly felt guilty for doing so, but no one else seemed to be apologetic or resentful of the circumstances, and Weiss was reminded once again just how fortunate he was to have such patient and understanding friends.

"Slate it is," Yang said with a smile, the name somehow sounding even more appealing as it rolled off her tongue. She finally lowered her hand from Weiss's shoulder, and started to walk back across the room to the rest of their group. "How about we take the night to think about your temporary surname? It's getting late, and I think we could all use some rest."

"Right. We've got a long trip ahead of us," Blake echoed. She stood from her seat, gesturing for Sun and her friend—her name was Ilia, if Weiss remembered correctly—to follow her. She gave Weiss a small smile. "I'll be back in a few."

Jaune, Nora, and Ren also got up to leave, offering Weiss words of encouragement as they passed, and disappeared down the hall toward their own shared room. Ruby, Weiss, and Yang walked back to their room together, and true to her word, Blake joined them shortly after. She explained that Ilia still wasn't exactly accustomed to traveling with a group of Humans, and that it would be some time before she would warm up to Weiss and the rest of their team. They all understood, of course, and Weiss hadn't expected the girl to voice an opinion, much less join them, when he'd first called the meeting. He was simply grateful that she had shown up at all.

Since there were only two double beds in the room, Ruby and Yang had elected to share one together, leaving Blake and Weiss to share the other. The sisters had gone to bed almost immediately, and were the first asleep, per usual. But as Weiss laid on his back, staring up at the ceiling, he couldn't help but wonder anxiously what would happen once they reached the Atlesian border.

Blake, who had been sitting up in bed beside him, set down the book she'd been reading, and glanced at Weiss with a raised brow. "Today was quite the day, huh?"

Weiss let out a quiet grunt. "That's putting it lightly."

"You know," she murmured, giving her teammate a curious smile, "I always thought there was something off about you."

He blinked. "U-um…"

"Not in a bad way!" Blake clarified, her amber eyes widening as she seemed to realize her wording. "What I mean is, even after you started to change your views and adjust your attitude, I always felt like you were hiding something, not just from us, but from yourself… I guess this version of you is the most honest I've seen yet."

Weiss bit his lip. It was true he had been hiding, so much more than any of his teammates had expected back when they'd all first met. His childhood hadn't exactly been easy, but there wasn't much he had been allowed to say against his father back when he was the company heir, and had to constantly put on a good face. There were still things about his parents he didn't feel comfortable talking about, like the way his mother sometimes got so drunk that she had trouble remembering her own children's names, or the way his father had struck Weiss after the benefit concert just for simply speaking his mind. But perhaps Blake had sensed something more, the part of Weiss who once despised looking in the mirror, because the person staring back always felt like a fake, as if Weiss's body had belonged to someone else. And only today had he finally come to understand why; only today, had he finally seen that little boy who had been screaming on the other side of the mirror all his life.

"I can't imagine it was easy," Blake continued, her expression becoming more serious. "If there's one thing I've learned about hiding my Faunus traits for so long, it's that the more you fear the unacceptance of others, the harder it becomes to accept yourself."

"It's not that I didn't accept myself," Weiss told her. "I just didn't know then who I was. I wasn't allowed the freedom to ever question or figure that out."

She let out a sympathetic hum. "I'm really glad you've found yourself, Weiss." But Blake didn't seem too confident as she switched off the dim light on the nightstand, and slid down beneath the covers. Weiss could see her outline as she folded her hands over her stomach, tapping her index fingers in thought.

He frowned, hoping he hadn't said or done something to upset her. "Blake? What's wrong?"

His teammate exhaled deeply, turning to face him. "Aren't you worried about will happen once your family does find out, though? You can't just hide from them forever, Weiss. And, well… from what you've told all of us, your parents don't seem to be nearly as accepting or forgiving as my own were when I got sucked in by the White Fang."

"Of course I'm worried," Weiss responded, his voice low and sullen. He searched in the dark for Blake's eyes, finding her yellow irises staring back intently. "But at the same time, I've also stopped caring what my father thinks. He doesn't own me, he doesn't get to decide who I am anymore. And my sister… I'm sure she'll come to accept the new me. She's always only wanted what's best for me."

Blake smiled. "That's good to hear. And you've got us, now, too."

Weiss returned her smile. "Yes I do." He inhaled slowly, his nerves finally starting to unwind. "Thank you, Blake."

"You don't have to thank me. It's the truth," she said simply, before turning away from him. "We should get some sleep. Good night, Weiss."

"Good night." He continued to watch Blake's back, her shoulders rising and falling as she breathed in and out softly, until, finally, she was asleep. Weiss took one last good look around the room, at each of his teammates sleeping soundly, before he, too, closed his eyes, and let his exhaustion from all of that day's excitement take him.

Tomorrow they would be on their way to Atlas, and Weiss would be returning a new man.