Winter and Weiss have a talk about the future.

Winter never considered Weiss a child to think about the future, but then again, Weiss was well known for surpassing expectations. It came out of nowhere, or at least it appeared that way to Winter. The two of them had been in the family gardens, Winter watching over her younger sister as she looked at flowers.

"Sister, do you think I'll ever get married?" Weiss's quiet voice cuts through Winter's idle mind, startling her slightly.

"Winter." Winter corrected; formality shouldn't be something a child had to deal with in her opinion. An opinion her father disagreed with strongly. "And yes, you most likely will."

"Will I get to choose?" Weiss asked, her voice trembling, Winter saw tears forming.

She pat Weiss' head, trying her best to calm her sister. "Don't cry. That isn't something you should worry about for a long time."

"But..." Weiss was determined to have her question answered, tears and all.

Winter sighed, she really doesn't feel like shattering Weiss' dreams at the tender age of six, but she deserved to hear the truth. "Probably not. Who you marry matters a lot. Father is going to want to make sure the Schnee name is upheld well."

"What if I don't love them?"

In the back of her mind, Winter noted the use of 'them' over 'him,' but she decided that was something better left untouched. Instead, she motioned to the empty space on the bench beside her. Weiss sat down quickly, looking up at her with hope and dread wrapped into one.

"That won't matter to Father. All he cares about is keeping our blood 'pure.' That's why I'm going into the military. You can't be married if you're in the military." Winter smiled at the thought. The military hadn't been her first choice in life, but at this point, anything that gave her freedom from Father was a welcome prospect. Ironwood had told her she was a promising student anyways.

"What about the company? Does Father know you're going into the mi-li-try." Weiss sounded out the unfamiliar word, her face scrunching up as she realized instinctively she had gotten something wrong, even if she couldn't figure it out on her own.

"Close, but it's mi-li-ta-ry." Weiss nodded to show that she understood, and Winter continued. "But no, Father doesn't know. He'll probably take away my title as heiress once I tell him. Then you'll be heiress."

"Uh-uh." Weiss shook her head. "I gonna join the military! I don't wanna be heiress!"

"Why wouldn't you want to be heiress? You wouldn't have to worry about your future anymore." Winter replied.

"Because you're already heiress, and that looks super hard." Weiss paused for a moment before muttering softly. "I don't want Father to control me. I wanna do my own thing."

"Then why don't you?" Winter remained impassive even as Weiss stared at her like she had just Weiss to solve the world's hardest equation. "You don't have to join the military. You could become a diplomat, or a teacher, or even a huntress if you wanted to. It's your choice in the end."

"Really?" Weiss' obvious confusion at the idea made Winter's stomach churn in anger, but she forced a smile onto her face as she responded.

"Really."

Winter accepted the shaky hug given to her, smiling down at the little girl sobbing in her arms.

If Winter had a say, she would send Weiss to the first huntsman academy she could find. Weiss had a passion for fighting and doing the right thing that was painfully clear to anyone who bothered to look past her last name.

Still, there would be time to talk about that later. For now, she'd rather just enjoy the moment.

Honestly though, I adore Winter. I can see a little bit of myself in her, I kind of have the same attitude with my brothers that she has with Weiss. One of my favorite things about volume three was that she actually turned out to be an overprotective and loving sister, in a roundabout way, instead of the stuck up and snotty sister we thought she was going to be.

Also, this story has passed 30,000 views and I just can't believe it. Thank you so, so , so much to everyone who reads and reviews this story. You guys are literally the best!