"Thank you for doing this, Weiss."

Weiss smiled when she heard his genuine tone. "It's no problem, dad."

Mr. Schnee watched his daughter take off her jewelry. "I really do appreciate it. Don't bother with anything else tonight and get some rest. I'll handle everything else."

Weiss hugged him. "Thank you."

Mr. Schnee chuckled during the embrace. "I have to admit, you're great at acting," he held out a fist.

The white-haired girl fist-bumped him. "I learn from the best."

"Now go rest," he advised. "It's been a long day."

Weiss headed to the door and before she left said. "I love you."

"I love you too, Weiss," Mr. Schnee smiled.

The sensation of wet cheeks roused her. When she struggled to open her eyes, bright lights blinded her, causing her to shut them. She was about to fall asleep once more, but something stopped her from shutting down again.

"Weiss?" she heard a concerned voice. "Wake up, I know you can do it."

She recognized the voice and furrowed her eyes a few times before opening them again, only to see a blonde waterfall of hair leaning over her. Thankfully, the locks blocked the lights.

"Yang?" Weiss asked, taken off guard.

Yang smiled and used a soft tone. "How're ya feeling?"

The white-haired girl took a moment to ponder the question. "Much better," she slowly sat up. "You?"

The blonde helped coax her up, bracing her hand against Weiss' back. "Same, but I wasn't injured that badly," her eyes lingered on Weiss' cheeks. "Why're you crying?"

Yang knew getting off the island was a burden off their shoulders. However, she couldn't think of any reason as to why the girl would cry, especially after just waking up.

Weiss went wide-eyed and wiped the tears from her face. "I… had a dream about my dad."

The last thing I told him was 'I love you.'

"Oh…" Yang was visibly saddened. "I'm sorry. I'm sure once we're discharged and given the 'okay' we can search for him."

"You're right," Weiss grinned at the thought of seeing her dad again. "Wait, are we in the hospital?"

"Yep!" she chirped. "Thankfully they let us share a room."

As Weiss glanced around, she noticed the room was mostly white, with a table just to the side of her bed. A little to the left, there was another bed that had been used by Yang. The room was quiet besides the occasional drip of the IV bag.

The smells of the hospital was almost too much for Weiss to handle. After being stranded on a remote island for over a month, she'd grown accustomed to the smells of nature. However, the hospital smelled so artificial. It reminded her of the times her father had taken her ashore to get her yearly checkup from the doctor, only now it was amplified, and the scent was almost nauseating. It would be hard to adjust to, but she guessed her friends are going through the same thing.

She realized two presences missing. "Where're Ruby and Blake?"

"They're coming back to sneak in some real food," Yang winked. "The hospital food here tastes like shit."

Weiss laughed a bit. "How is everyone?"

"Good!" Yang said with a smile and pointed to the IV in Weiss' wrist. "The doctor had us on fluids and aside from a few scratches and bruises, there's nothing antibiotics and some good old rest can't fix!"

Weiss sighed in relief. "I'm glad."

"Yeah!" Yang chirped. "While you were asleep, we got the fluids and nutrients we needed. I bet the Doc will take the wire out next time he stops by."

"Good," Weiss smiled. "It's already starting to annoy me."

The blonde was happy to see her girlfriend was acting like herself. "How's the arm?" she gestured to the bandaged injury. "It's gotta be better after giving you proper medicine."

The entirety of the injury was wrapped in white bandages from wrist to shoulder. Weiss guessed the fabric would be soft against her skin.

Weiss tried to lift it, but it wouldn't move. "I… can't feel it."

"Oh, that's probably because they gave you a crap ton of pain killers," Yang informed. "That's why you're so drowsy. Did you know you mumble in your sleep?"

"Shut up, brute," Weiss huffed.

Yang squeezed the girl's hand with a small smile. "I'm so glad everyone is okay…"

After going through the ordeal, they were overall glad that everyone made it off the island in one piece. Much worse could have happened, and they thanked each other for making it out alive.

"Me too," Weiss gently squeezed back. "Wait…" she noticed a certain presence was missing that was normally around her arm. "Where's Nora?" her eyes widened. "Was she taken away?!"

Yang wryly grinned. "You'll see."

"As long as my baby is okay."

"Don't worry about her, she's fine," the blonde gave Weiss a once-over. "But your eye looks pretty badass."

Weiss was about to touch the once injured eye, but Yang grabbed her arm. "Don't touch it. There's actual medicine on it now, but it did scar over."

Now that she mentioned it, the medicine made Weiss feel a slight breeze. "Does it look bad?"

"No," Yang replied confidently. "In fact, I… I think it makes you look even more cute," she looked away, slightly blushing.

Weiss dropped her head in embarrassment, staring at the blankets. "Brute…"

The door suddenly swung open, announcing the new arrivals.

The freezerburn pair whipped their heads up to see Blake and Ruby, who were keeling over to keep the food from falling out of their clothes.

"Hey guys!" Yang chirped.

Before Ruby replied, she frantically pulled her shirt up over the table, causing several junk food items to slide on the surface.

"Hey, Yang!" she looked at the hospital bed. "Weiss! You're awake!"

Weiss smiled. "It's good to see you, dolt."

Ruby's grin was ear-to-ear as she bolted over and hugged Weiss as tight as she dared, careful to avoid irritating her injuries.

"Jeez!" Yang exclaimed upon seeing the food. "It looks like you guys bought everything off the value menu!"

"Well, except for these," Blake murmured. "These weren't on the value menu."

Yang's eyes followed Blake. The faunus smirked and pulled out packets of tuna from her pockets and casually threw them in the pile with the rest of the food.

"Yes!" Yang jumped up and desperately searched the pile. "But… but… where's my cheeseburger?" her expression distraught.

Blake turned around with a sly grin. On her back, was Nora the sloth, casually dangling while holding a piece of a cheeseburger in her mouth. The sloth tried to chew the delicious food slowly, savoring the taste.

The sound was a bit muffled, but Nora managed a squeal. "Brwah!"

"You… you monster!" Yang yelped. "Do you know how long I've wanted a cheeseburger?!"

The sloth swallowed slowly, careful to not choke. "Brrah!"

Yang's anger easily dissipated when she saw Nora's content face. "At least you're happy… wait, do sloths even eat meat?"

"Nope," Blake faintly chuckled.

The faunus noticed Yang was depressed that the sloth got the cheeseburger. Blake walked by her and pat Yang on the back as she reached her hand in her jacket pocket and pulled out a wrapped food.

"Did you really think that I forgot your cheeseburger?"

Yang's mouth watered at the mere sight. "You're the best!" she snatched the burger out of her hands and chewed the meat greedily.

"Ruby," Weiss said softly. "I thought Yang said you were bringing back real food."

"It is real food!" Ruby beamed as she took a bite of a cookie. "Do you know how long it's been since I've had my precious?" she held up the treat.

Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. "What even…"

Ruby noticed her friend was disappointed and was eager to cheer her up. "You know what else we got?"

"What?"

Ruby hopped off the bed and stood, shaking her red hoodie viciously.

"What're you doing, dolt?"

Ruby didn't respond and grunted in frustration. After fumbling with her hoodie, a small cup slipped out and she caught it with ease before it hit the ground.

The brunette held out the cup with a lid on it, a straw sticking out.

Weiss stared at it with calculating eyes. "I'm not even going to ask."

"It's a milkshake!" Ruby exclaimed. "It's vanilla. I didn't know what kind you liked, but I figured going with the most basic one couldn't hurt."

Weiss smiled, little did Ruby know, that was her favorite flavor. "Thank you," she grabbed the treat and sipped on the straw. "This is good," she felt like she'd melt from the sweet taste.

"Right?" Ruby chirped, happily devouring another cookie.

The door opened without warning. Ruby abandoned the treat and dove to block the view of the 'illegal' food on the table, while Weiss shoved her milkshake under the blankets.

Yang was in the midst of covering the sloth, but she let her guard down when she saw who it was.

The man strolled in with his clipboard in hand. A stethoscope was around his neck, with a white coat on his back and a pair of gloves were in his pockets. The man was arguably handsome and looked young. His brown hair brought out his blue eyes, which wandered to the clipboard. He jotted some notes when he noticed Weiss was sitting up and fully awake.

"Hey, Dr. Melas!" Yang waved. "Fancy seeing you here!"

"Sup, blondie," the doctor greeted and righted himself. "Oh, I mean, Ms. Xiao Long."

Ruby waved a hand of dismissal. "Pshhhh, you can drop the formalities, Roz."

The doctor had been in the room several times by this point, dropping in to check on his patients. It had been a few hours since the girls had arrived at the hospital, so Roz had gotten to know them fairly quickly.

"Am I the only one wondering what's going on?" Weiss asked. "He's your superior, treat him as such."

Since Weiss had been asleep, she hadn't even officially met him yet, effectively leaving her out of the loop.

Dr. Melas laughed at the statement. "I love it! Really, I do. But it makes me uncomfortable. I feel like having patients call me by my first name helps me to connect with them better."

"Plus," Yang added. "He's a total screw up anyways!"

The girls felt like they could joke with him, seeing as he was the most relaxed doctor they'd ever met.

"Hey now, that's uncalled for," he chided. "One accidental diagnosis doesn't make me a screw up. Besides, that's how we learn, right?"

"The guy had a railroad spike driven through his skull," Yang said. "How in the hell do you misdiagnose that?"

"Very carefully," he answered with a wink. He noticed that the four had been acting suspicious, especially with Ruby's outstretched arms. He sighed, knowing the reason. "By the way, you don't have to hide the food, even though it's not allowed. Everyone knows this hospital's food tastes like shit."

"Took the words right outta my mouth," Yang chimed as she finished her burger.

"I like him," Blake said as she licked her finger free of tuna.

Once she knew it was okay, Weiss lifted the milkshake from under the covers and casually sipped it in silence.

"Now, on to the business…" Roz stated. "I came in here to check on you four again," the doctor walked over to Ruby. "I see the color has returned to your cheeks."

Ruby mocked a salute. "Yes, Roz! After getting my daily dose of cookies, I should be good as new!"

Dr. Melas chuckled. "Good to hear. Any type of food will do at this point. Anything but the same fish you guys have been eating for over a month, or fish in general."

"I'm never eating fish again," Yang mumbled.

"Speak for yourself," Blake smirked as she took another bite of tuna.

"Yang," Roz started and held up his hands. "How're your reflexes?"

The blonde smirked and punched his hands a few times, her newfound strength returning. "Perfect, as usual!"

Dr. Melas lowered his hands and shook off the pain, grunting slightly from the impact. "Damn, you're strong."

Yang blew on her fist like a gun. "Don't you forget it."

"Blake," Roz walked over to her with disappointment. "Please," he took the tuna out of her hand. "Anything but fish for a while."

Blake's ears folded on her head. "Aw…"

"I know you like fish," Roz stated. "But right now your body needs variety."

"Ok…" she sulked and grabbed chocolate as a replacement.

"And Weiss," the doctor sat on the edge of her bed. "I'm glad you're awake!"

Weiss set the milkshake on the table to give him her full attention. "Thank you for taking care of me."

"It was hardly me," Roz replied modestly. "They wouldn't leave your side for a second."

Weiss searched her friends and felt a warmth well-up in her chest, touched that they worried so much. She received heart-warming smiles in return, with even Nora poking her head around Blake's hip to sneak a peek at the girl.

Dr. Melas smiled and held out his hand. "May I see your hand?"

"Of course," Weiss replied and set her hand in his.

"I'm just checking to see if you're still dehydrated," Roz explained.

"Okay."

The doctor lightly pinched the skin on her hand, glad to see it springed back to its normal position in a few seconds. He nodded and wrote the results on his clipboard.

"You're no longer dehydrated, so the IV isn't needed," Roz gingerly removed the wire from her wrist. "Do you feel any pain right now?"

"None," she answered. "Although my head is a bit fuzzy."

"Ah, that's because of the pain killers," Roz replied. "How's the arm feeling? You sure it doesn't hurt?"

"I still can't feel it," Weiss assured.

The doctor was relieved. "Good. It's better that way for now," he carefully lifted the bandaged arm. "Can you move it at all?"

Weiss tried to lift her left arm, concentrating her energy in just that part of her body. She had full control of her hand and made it into a fist, but the fact that she couldn't move her arm at all angered her.

The doctor noticed her grimace in frustration. "Stop," he advised. "It's okay if you can't move it yet."

Weiss gripped the bed sheets until her knuckles turned white.

Roz noticed her annoyance and continued. "Your friends did a phenomenal job stabilizing the injury."

"Ahh," Ruby blushed. "It was nothing."

"No, I mean it," Roz said in a serious tone. "She could have- no, should have died if you three didn't stop the bleeding, and your use of medicinal herbs was particularly clever. So good job and be proud."

"Really though," Weiss chimed, looking at the three. "Thank you, Blake. If it wasn't for your quick thinking, I wouldn't be here right now."

Blake gave her a small smile.

"Thank you, Ruby. You provided support even though you were as frightened as I was," she teased.

Ruby giggled. "I tried."

"And Yang," Weiss continued. "Thank you for just… being there. You were there for me from the beginning, even when I treated you like garbage, so thanks for putting up with me."

"To be fair, your actions were justified," Yang beamed a smile and sat on the edge of her bed.

Weiss only faintly grinned, indicating she completely agreed with that statement.

"C'mere princess," Yang wrapped her in a loose embrace.

Dr. Melas grinned at the sight and made his way to the door. "Just hit the red button if you need anything. I'll check on you guys later."

"Thanks Roz!" Ruby shouted as he shut the door.

Ruby and Blake watched with smiles as the freezerburn pair hugged.

"Get a room, you two," the faunus smirked.

The freezerburn duo broke apart and Yang said. "We finally do have a room!"

"It's quite the upgrade from the batcave," Weiss chuckled.

The other three burst into laughter, actually happy to be away from their fort. They enjoyed the atmosphere, but Weiss knew she had to break it sooner or later with what needed to be said.

Weiss' eyes trailed to the faunus. "Blake, I need to talk with you."

The faunus' eyes widened, knowing what the conversation would be about. Weiss was in better condition now, so Blake figured she'd want to fill her in on the details.

"You want us to leave?" Yang asked.

"That would be for the best."

"Ouch," the blonde said. "Gettin' kicked out already?"

Knowing what Weiss wanted to talk about, Ruby grabbed her sister's hand so they could have privacy. She knew that for the entire time on the island, the topic was on her friend's mind, and she wanted her to have some relief by giving her time alone with Blake.

"Come on, Yang."

The sisters left the room and promptly shut the door, leaving Blake and Weiss alone. Blake didn't know how to approach the subject and was thankful when Nora squirmed on her body.

"Brrah!"

"Here," Blake unwrapped the sloth off her back. "She's getting restless."

Weiss happily grabbed Nora and set her on her lap, gently stroking her fur. "It's good to see you."

"Brrah!" the sloth curled up against her stomach, providing warmth.

Weiss cleared her throat. "So, you may have heard of my father."

Blake took a deep breath, it was time to find out about her parents.

"Yes," the faunus nodded. "He owns virtually every weapons store in the world called Schnee Weaponry. And if I'm correct, he ran a few other businesses on the side."

"Indeed," Weiss agreed, still petting the sloth. "However, he acquired many of those businesses with… questionable methods. Of course, this led people to be angry with him. Not only him, but my family in general."

Blake sat on the edge of the bed, listening intently with her ears perked up.

"Eventually, the people who played into his hands… formed a mob. This mob was made of both human and faunus."

Blake realized Weiss was distressed. "You don't have to-"

"No, I want to tell you. It's the least I can do for you."

Blake nodded and let her continue.

"That mob raided my home in Atlas. You lived in Atlas when you were younger, correct?"

"Yes," Blake confirmed. "A long time ago. Before I moved here."

"I thought so," Weiss replied. "The mob wanted to kill every Schnee. I only knew that because during the raid, I was hiding in a closet under some coats when I heard a man say, 'no Schnee will get away.'"

Blake was starting to get frightened from the story. Being that young and having people out to get you must've been terrifying.

"I was scared to say the least," Weiss admitted. "But then… the door creaked open."

"What happened?"

"Two cat faunus reached their hands out for me," Weiss informed. "At first, I thought they wanted to kill me, too. I was terrified… I thought they'd take me away from my parents," her stomach twisted in a knot at the thought. "But there was something about them that made me trust them. They were adamant about keeping quiet, and reassured me that I would see my family soon if I just went along with them."

"Did you?" Blake asked.

"I did," Weiss answered. "I followed them and that's why they were killed…"

"W-what happened?" Blake stammered.

"I c-could tell they wanted to protect me from harm," she continued, her voice cracking a bit. "T-they tried to shield me from anyone that might want to hurt me. But when we almost made it to the front door…"

"What happened?" Blake dared asked.

Weiss gripped the sloth's fur a little tighter, careful not to hurt Nora. "T-two gunshots rang out," she stuttered and stifled a sob when she remembered the bodies. "T-the next thing I-I knew, they were on the ground with blood staining their clothes..."

The faunus and Weiss' eyes started to water.

"Th-that's when I looked up and saw my dad holding the pistol, Blake," Weiss choked out. "H-he shot both of your parents, t-took me in his arms and ran out of our home. W-we just left them there to d-die..." she sniffled, with tears now rolling down her cheeks.

Blake put a reassuring hand on her back. "Why do you think they were my parents?"

Weiss took a deep breath. "The older male faunus had the brightest amber eyes," she smiled and gazed into Blake's amber orbs. "Just like yours."

It pained her when she could practically see Blake's face morph into the older male's, but she continued as the faunus swallowed, her ears leaned back a bit.

"And the female cat faunus had the most beautiful black hair," Weiss mentioned. "A spitting image of yours."

Blake was starting to tear up a bit, the drops threatening to spill over.

"You look so much like them, you know that?"

"S-still," Blake choked out. "They could have been some other faunus couple."

"You're right," Weiss agreed. "B-but there's one way to know. For real."

"How?"

"B-before they died, the male told the female that he loved her, and called her name."

Tears freely flowed down Blake's cheeks. She knew both of her parent's names, but wanted to see if her answer was correct.

Weiss gathered her courage and asked the question.

"Was your mother named Kira?"

Blake's world felt like it had stopped, her stomach twisted in a knot. That's when she broke down in sobs with tears streaking down her face. She leaned onto Weiss' shoulder to receive comfort, which Weiss was glad to do as she wrapped her good arm around the faunus. In order to provide the best comfort possible, she grunted and managed to gain control of her injured arm, wrapping it around her as well, pulling her in for a warm embrace.

Blake's bleary eyes widened when she felt two arms around her back. One of them slowly slid up her back, crossing on top of the other arm. She silently appreciated the contact, knowing the action required great effort. Despite her sadness, she smiled through the tears, glad she had such a thoughtful friend.

So it was them, Weiss sadly thought.

"Blake, I'm sorry," she said in a soft tone.

The faunus sniffled once more, her voice a bit muffled from leaning into the girl's shoulder. "I-it's okay. I forgive you, even though it's not your fault."

Now that Blake knew the full story, hearing that Weiss was forgiven was a relief. She had blamed herself this whole time, and as she pulled the faunus closer, she finally allowed herself to accept the genuine words.

Weiss sniffled a bit, her head on Blake's shoulder. "Thank you…"

After a few more heartbreaking sniffles, Blake composed herself and pulled away. "Besides, if they didn't try to save you, we wouldn't have met. You might not even be here right now, they just did what they did best. They helped others."

Weiss offered a small smile. "Y-you're right…"

The door flung open, causing the two to whip their heads up to the noise. Ruby and Yang ran in after they stood outside for a few minutes. Weiss broke apart from the embrace, dropping her injured arm back on the bed, all the energy sapped from the limb.

Ruby quickly wrapped her arms around Blake. "I know you said to leave, but you guys were crying…"

"We could hear you through the door," Yang explained. "Is everything okay?"

Blake wiped the tears off her face. "It's okay. I'm okay now…" she sniffled. "I have you guys. I'm not alone anymore, remember?"

Seeing the faunus so distraught hit a pang in Ruby's heart. She leaned in a bit, but hesitated. However, words from a certain white-haired girl breached her mind.

"Have more confidence."

That was all Ruby needed to pull Blake in for a passionate kiss. It took Blake a second to realize what was going on, but she soon returned the kiss with vigor.

Yang put a hand on Weiss' back as they watched with smiles. "Get a room, you two!"

The ladybug pair broke apart, gazing into each other's eyes.

"I love you, Blake," Ruby confessed. "In case you haven't noticed."

Blake pulled her in for an embrace. "I love you too, Ruby."

"It's about time," Weiss commented.

Ruby and Blake broke apart with their hearts soaring.

"That certainly cheered me up," Blake said.

"That's what I'm here for!" Ruby slung her arm around Blake's shoulder.

Now that they two were together together, the ladybug pair understandably didn't want to separate from each other.

Yang grabbed some french fries off the table and offered Weiss some. "They look gross, but they're so goooood," she popped one in her mouth.

"Are those french fries?" Weiss asked, clearly skeptical.

"Yeah," Ruby said and gasped at the realization. "Oh my gosh. You've never eaten french fries before, have you?!"

"You think I have time for this…" Weiss inspected a fry. "Grease?"

"You haven't lived," Blake stated with her arm firmly wrapped around Ruby's waist. "Just try one."

Weiss sighed and reluctantly nibbled on the food. "It's… good. Kind of salty though."

"Like you?" Yang asked teasingly.

"Quiet brute," Weiss mumbled as she finished the french fry.

"Brrah!"

"You want one too?" Yang asked the sloth. "Here ya go!" she handed Nora a small fry.

The sloth curled her tongue around the food, but it didn't take long for her to register the saltiness. It was clear that she didn't like it when her face furrowed before she spit it out on the blanket.

The four laughed at the animal's reaction.

"What's wrong, Nora?" Ruby asked, picking up the chewed fry. "You don't like french fries?"

"Brragh!" the sloth began to lick the blanket to get rid of the taste.

"Hey!" Weiss yelped. "I'm using that!"

Blake picked up the sloth and carefully wrapped her around her neck. "I'm glad we took you with us."

"Brrah!"

Yang laughed. "Ya know-"

The sound of the door creaking open cut her off. The four girls and sloth tilted their heads at the entrance, intrigued to see a different visitor.

The man walked in the room and stood tall. His face written with shock as he stared at the four girls.

"Who are you?" Ruby asked curiously.

Weiss' eyes started to water all over again at the mere sight of his presence. Her stomach twisted in a knot, but at the same time, a huge burden was lifted off her shoulders. She managed to croak out the question, still in disbelief at the person in front of her.

"... Dad?"

For some reason, I found the image the sloth poking her head around Blake's hip hilarious. A poker faced sloth all like 'sup?

The doctor's first name 'Roz' means 'pink' in greek. How manly ;D His last name 'Melas' means the color 'black' in greek as well.

Anyone here a fan of Death Note? That's why Blake's mom is named Kira LOL.

A cliffhanger! How kind of exciting?

Side note: you should totally check out my other story- Let Me Hear!

Stay dandy,

~Toto