Disclaimer: This was a prompt that came across my dash and I've been accused of writing angst enough that I opted to live up to the charge.

Winter knelt in front of the grave stone, reaching out to reverently draw her fingers across the embossed words. Snow fell lightly all around her, blanketing the hill in a layer of white, disturbed only by her footprints leading up to one of a handful of markers. She'd never known one, had barely known the second, but the third and fourth? Them, she knew well. The third, she'd loved… more than anything.

"Yang," she said, a tear slipping down her cheek. "I'm sorry; I found another dead end. But I'll keep trying. I'll find who took you from me."

Ten years ago, she'd gotten the call. In the middle of a series of landmark meetings between business and community leaders from all over Remnant, a police officer informed her that Yang Xiao Long, her girlfriend of nearly three years, had died after losing control of her motorcycle on a winding path around her home island of Patch. Her sister, Ruby Rose, had also perished, following closely enough behind that she couldn't avoid the same fate, their bodies lost to the jagged cliff and rolling sea below.

But Winter knew better. Her girlfriend would never drive recklessly with her sister following behind, had spent too many years on that bike to make such a simple mistake as gunning around a curve on a steep cliff, and would much rather ride with her sister into town than follow each other down anyway. Their deaths were no accident; everything had been staged to appear that way, though.

"I know I haven't visited recently." Her gaze dropped, fighting not to cry as she continued. "I wanted to entirely dismantle the operation before I confronted the boss. I thought, maybe, it would be an intimidating enough display to warrant the answer I sought. But it was all for nothing."

Beneath her feet and six feet of soil sat an empty coffin, one she'd helped carry up to the hill where all Yang's family were laid to rest. She'd dug the grave herself, with a little help, and filled it in, too. Winter had even carved out her girlfriend's headstone and swore she'd find the people responsible. It had to be one of the groups working against Weiss and Blake, trying to derail their efforts to unify Remnant under a single, fair act that would ensure equality for Faunus the world over. A new legal precedent, something to force corporations to stop treating Blake's people as anything less than the humans they worked beside. A groundbreaking measure.

But ten years passed and she'd yet to make good on that promise.

"I missed the first snowfall." She lifted her gaze to the heavy grey clouds overhead, sprinkling down snowflakes that gently kissed her cheeks and stirred her hair. Usually, she'd feel cold, being out for this long with only her jacket and Yang's orange scarf to keep her warm. But she hadn't felt warm since her girlfriend died. She hardly felt anything anymore. "I've only got a few more possible leads- one of the crime families from Mistral. Only two really would've opposed the change but they're worth looking into; I've already embedded my agents in their lower ranks and contacted the police through a proxy. I… know you always worried about a scandal, what that would do to my reputation, so I'm being careful."

Blake and Weiss had succeeded in their goals. Winning support through public opinion and using the considerable might of the SDC, they'd improved the lives of Faunus all over Remnant. They still had a ways to go, of course, but the next generation would be born into a world where corporations would be held accountable for failure to provide for their workers, and that meant something.

Winter had to cling to those victories until she could have her own.

"Weiss is expecting again," she said, running her hand over the flaming heart etched into the stone. "She said it's my turn to name one. I told her that I don't think that's how it works but she insisted. I think… perhaps she knows I'll never have children of my own to name."

"Why not? You'd make a good mother."

Eyes widening, Winter whirled around, pulling the pistol from beneath her jacket and training it on the intruder immediately. "Who are you? How did you find me?" She narrowed her eyes as the man chuckled. A touch shorter than her, with a black wool cap over short white hair and a white beard from ear to ear, though he still had a bit of a youthful face. A line or two from worry, perhaps, but she doubted he was older than her. A blue coat in the traditional Vacuon design and heavy trousers with a crude Schnee emblem stitched over her left breast. "Wait, I've heard about you. Some drunken fool in south Vacuo, claiming to be a distant Schnee relative- you've been singlehandedly keeping some tabloids in print, I'll have you know."

"What can I say? In another life, I very well might've been a Schnee." He shrugged. "And, well, you won't believe the answer I have for that first question," he said, a bit of amusement glinting in blue eyes. "And the second? I know my way around, Snowdrift."

Fury coursed through her veins as she shot forward, closing the distance between them and slamming her left fist into his jaw before lashing out with her right, catching him across the top of his head with her gun as he tried ducking away.

"WHERE DID YOU HEAR THAT?" He'd hardly hit the ground before she trained her weapon on him again, finger resting on the trigger and fully prepared to pull it. "WHERE?"

"Wow, you really learned to hit." Staggered and dazed by her attacks, he shook his head and rubbed at the wounded areas. "I won't make that mistake again."

"You're presuming you'll live that long."

He looked at her, a frown touching his lips as he sat up. "I really didn't expect you to change this much. Guess the rumors are true."

"Answer my question or I'll put a bullet through your head." She grit her teeth, hard enough it felt like they might shatter from the force. "You're one of them, aren't you? You're one of the ones I've been looking for."

"You haven't been looking for me." He cleared his throat and continued in a voice that pitched much higher- familiar to her ears. "You've been looking to avenge me."

Her grip faltered for a split second. "N-no, you're- you're trying to get me to let my guard down. It won't work." Then, anger returned in full force. "You're trying to get into my head-"

"You didn't like guns before; you thought they were barbaric, the 'rudimentary result of those unskilled yet with desires of heroic grandeur' were your exact words, I think." He nodded towards the pistol in her hand. "You prefer swords and their competitions, any kind- fencing, kendo, silat, whichever. You said one time 'a child can hold a gun but most adults can barely hold a knife', right?"

"So, you've been surveilling me for quite a while. That proves nothing."

"You usually use your right hand but you're actually ambidextrous." The man smirked. "And there's only three things you use your left hand for: cutting steak, boxing, and masturbation, when you're in the mood."

"So you're a murderer and a pervert." Despite the strength of her voice, doubt had started to worm its way into her mind. The cadence of speech- time had dulled the memories but now they came rushing back, suddenly vivid.

"The first time we met, it was Christmas Eve and you'd forgotten to get Weiss a present," he said, reaching up to start scratching at his beard. "You were both workaholics then, never rested for a moment, but you'd finally remembered once you left your office. I was there trying to pick up dog food, just in case we got snowed in, and you offered me fifty lien to help you pick out something she'd like." Suddenly, she realized he wasn't scratching at his beard, he was pulling it off, cringing as whatever glue had kept it in place clung to both skin and the fake hair, leaving a raw, angry red splotch across his chin. "I told you to keep the money but, if she liked it, you owed me a date."

Her mind raced. It didn't make sense for anyone to be following her back then, and certainly not close enough to pick up on the fifty lien detail. She hadn't told anyone that story…

… but perhaps Yang had. "That doesn't prove anything."

"Right." Pulling off well worn gloves, he reached up, pulling contacts out of his eyes. "I'm sure there's nothing I could say that'll make you believe me. Honestly, if the roles were reversed, I'd probably be just as skeptical. I really don't blame you." Light blue gave way to lilac- a shade she'd yearned to see again. "I told ya you wouldn't believe me if I just told you who I am, Snowdrift."

The same inflection. The same voice. The same eyes watching at her with that look.

"It's… not possible." Winter felt her breathing become shaky, her anger ebbing as hope surged forth from wherever it had laid dormant the past decade. "What was the name of Yang's bike?"

"Bumblebee."

"What did she do first after waking up?"

"Kiss you or send you a text with a kissy face."

"How do I like my coffee?"

"Black- you'll drink it with French vanilla creamer every now and then to break up the monotony, but you're just as likely to drink it straight from the pot."

"How'd Yang like hers?"

"I don't like coffee- never really did- but if I needed the encouragement after a long night, four hazelnut creamers and a dash of sugar."

"Favorite type of nut?"

"Trick question." Reaching up, the person grabbed the cap and pulled it away, a stubborn cowlick immediately popping up over the crown of their head. "After being with you, I said I stopped liking nuts at all." A wink. "But, seriously, always liked almonds."

She lowered her gun, struck a little dumb. Because anyone could guess that Yang liked almonds, that wouldn't be hard, but word play while on the wrong end of a pistol? That took nerves, yet the woman now standing before her seemed entirely relaxed. If anything, a little hopeful and amused at her own joke, with a slight curl to her lips.

It… couldn't be. "… Sundrop?"

"Yeah. It's me." Yang shrugged her shoulders, lips pulling into a small grin as she stood. "It's good to see you again, Snowdrift."

"'It's good to see you again' that's all you have to say for yourself?" Tears pricked at her eyes as her heart ached, feeling, for a moment, like it'd been torn from her chest all over again. "They told me you died in an accident! I went there myself, saw Bumblebee's wreckage littering the waves, the skid marks- I mourned you, I buried you!" She gestured back at the grave markers. "I lost you and here you are, ten years later, 'good to see you again', Yang Xiao Long, I swear-"

"I had to, Winter, please," she said, taking a step closer now that she didn't have a gun pointed her way. "Believe me, it was the only way-"

"The only way to what? Break my heart?" Her arm jerked, almost bringing the weapon to bear again, but that came more from a conditioned response than her anger and hurt at such a deep running betrayal. She holstered it, not wanting there to be any doubt; she'd never harm her love, never, no matter how badly she'd been hurt by the same woman. "I loved you, Yang, and I lost you. So you could, what, run off to Vacuo? What have you been doing the past ten years while I've mourned you-"

"You mean while you sought revenge." Her brows pinched together, the white color so strange to see. "You've spent the past decade destroying everyone who might've been responsible for my supposed death, haven't you?"

"And made the world a better place for it," she replied, pride bristling. "I sent a clear message: that no one could just claim a life without consequence." But then, her lips pulled into a frown. "Though, I suppose, that wasn't exactly true, now was it?" She turned away, unable to continue looking at the familiar face with that pure white hair cut so short, making the visage she'd spent the past ten years seeing only in pictures and her dreams altered just enough to make it unrecognizable. "Why did you do it, Yang? Why did you leave?"

"Because I was racing a clock." Her voice had softened, holding no accusation in it at all. "A week before, I'd noticed some guys following me around. They obviously didn't want to be seen but they also weren't on your payroll. Ruby noticed that they followed her, too, but not as much. Then, I woke up one morning and found the brake lines on my bike cut."

Blue eyes flicked back; she'd memorized the road leading out to the Xiao Long-Rose family home, every twist and turn, every slope. "You would've lost control before you ever made it to the ridge."

"Exactly. They didn't want me dead; they wanted me alive. And there was only one reason I could find for that." The crunch of snow underfoot as Yang started walking around, giving her space while also trying to catch her eye. "So I patched the line and told Ruby to follow me a few minutes after I left. Poor bastards never knew what hit 'em."

Winter turned slightly, looking at the woman. "Who were they?"

"A couple of muscle men on the payroll of the first guy you took out; you've always had the best instincts when it comes down to it." She shrugged. "We buried them in shallow graves just off the road, took their car and clothes, then rigged the accident. By the time police had shown up, we were on a boat heading for Vacuo with fake names and wearing mens' clothes. No one thought twice about it."

"Marcus Black, the master assassin operating out of Vale. I knew he was the one behind it." Her eyes narrowed. "But I didn't 'take him out'."

"No, you just got your hands on some incriminating evidence and combined it with faulty intel so the police showed up at his place guns blazing." A tilt of her head and a chuckle. "I really didn't know how you'd react to my death, Snowdrift, but becoming a black market information broker and systematically destroying the criminal underbelly of Remnant would've never crossed my mind."

"Stop calling me that." She bristled. "I'm not that person anymore and you're ten years past having that right, anyway."

"Can't argue with that." Another shrug. "Honestly, Winter, if I had another option, I would've taken it. Ruby and I were here, on an island, with at least two guys looking to abduct us to use as leverage. Against you, Weiss, Blake- no telling where it would've stopped. So, we had to disappear." Then, she gestured to her hair. "But I thought… if you or Weiss ever came around, looking to settle that 'distant Schnee relative' rumor, I could explain myself. But neither of you ever did."

Her eyes narrowed, a tendril of doubt worming into the back of her mind. "You-"

"Know damn well that you two would never personally confront a rumor like that? Yeah, I do." A mirthless chuckle. "But hope's a funny thing. It was the only message I could send, the only bit I could reach out, but it was a double-edged blade. We were safe because who would look into a tabloid rumor when you two didn't even deem it worth your concern? At the same time… I wanted you to look into it, so I kept drawing attention to myself… but no one ever came."

Winter swallowed past a lump in her throat. "And you would've been a Schnee in another life."

"I'd like to think that-"

"No." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, yellow box with a custom image embroidered into the lid- the same one adorning the stone before her. "I'd had the ring for two months when I got called about the accident. I was just… waiting for the right time to ask… and then you were gone."

Turning around, she looked at Yang then and saw sorrow mixed with hope and love in the softness of her expression, a sad smile on her lips. "I would've said yes. I've spent every day thinking about what I would say to you when I could… if I could." She took a shaky breath. "And at the top of that list is- I love you, Winter. And I'm so sorry that this happened. I was only trying to protect you but I know this caused you so much pain. I'm sorry."

"I wish you'd done it just about any other way." Winter drew in a shuddering breath. "Give me one reason not to fill the coffin I buried, Yang. Give me one reason to let you walk away."

Silence, broken only by the crunch of snow as the woman took slow and steady steps closer, fell between them, until Yang's arms wrapped around her- and it felt like not a day had gone by since she'd last been in those strong arms, the warmth at her back, a familiar face pressing against her shoulder.

"I don't want to walk away again, Winter. I know I can't make up for the past ten years but I- I won't leave you again." Her grip tightened slightly. "I'm asking for you to take me back. I know it's harder than that, complicated- if you walk away, I understand. But I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."

"Why now?" She didn't melt into the embrace like she desperately wanted to do. "Why come back now?"

"To be sure it was safe. For you, Weiss, Blake- if all your enemies aren't dead, they're probably too scared to try now." By small degrees, the embrace loosened. "I've…. been waiting for you to come around for months now. I figured… this was my best shot at getting you to hear me out."

Tears pricked at her eyes, the whole experience becoming almost too much to bear after being tortured in thousands of nightmares over the years. She'd never dared to hope that she'd see her love again but her subconscious inflicted upon her countless agonies, conjuring so many ways when their paths might cross again- Yang, returned from the dead. "And what if I never want to see you again?"

"Then… I'll disappear again… no tabloids, no messages. You'll never have to worry about me again."

"You've been gone longer than we were together." Winter swallowed hard, trying to maintain her composure. "We're not the people we used to be."

"No, we're not," Yang said, allowing her arms to drop. "But you're still my…" And she knew. The petname that went unspoken but she could still hear it, reverberating in her heart. "We aren't who we used to be but I still see in you the woman I love. And I'm willing to win your heart all over again."

Finally, the dam broke as she whirled around and wrapped her arms around the woman, burying her face in her neck. "Damn you, for all you've put me through, but I still love you. You're still my Sundrop."

With the snow falling down, those arms encircled her once more, and she could feel a warmth blooming in her chest once more. Then, Yang's hand cupped her cheek, covered in tears, and directed her into a soft, sweet kiss.

"I'm sorry but I've been wanting to do that for ten years." She smiled then, tears of her own beginning to track down her cheeks. "I promise, I'll behave. We can start over from scratch- I'll do whatever you want. Just don't hold that against me."

"Stop dying your hair and I'll consider it," she said, a moment before leaning back, too quick and too hard for Yang to keep them both standing, sending them tumbling into the snow.

Winter had no idea how she'd break the news to Weiss and Blake. She didn't know how to deal with all the baggage the last ten years had put on them. She didn't even know if she truly could forgive Yang for her actions.

But to have her there, in her arms again, laughing and crying and smiling in the fresh snow?

She was willing to find out.

Author's Note: No, the flood of updates isn't over yet. Next one's a doozy.