The Schnee family were complicated people. Bloodline implied and distinguished that, Winter assumed. As she thought back to all of the things she had been raised to be, the outright denial of them were things that would forever stick in her father's craw. She hadn't merely disagreed, she had defied him to the point of no return, forced him to relent, demanded that he did so...else he risk losing her forever.
At the time of making those choices, Weiss was still young, and Winter had the opportunity to pass particular family duties onto her. Wilson noticed her abilities, and had begun to mold them into an image he could be proud of...but, comically, in retrospect, he was doomed to fail. The only thing he succeeded in doing was to raise a child that was exactly like him. In the military, there were many idle jokes about Winter not knowing her place as a woman...but, if Winter were to make a comment, she would have easily said that such a problem would fall to her little sister as well.
Just as with everything else...after all, the younger woman was to be a patriarch soon enough. As hilarious as it was to the elder of the siblings, she also worried, because she knew her family, and she knew them well. Better, she presumed, than either assumed.
So, as an older sister, she felt she had no choice but to speak up for Weiss during this rather acerbic dispute over family name, and bloodline. "Father, if I may, I personally believe you're being just a little bit unreasonable."
"Then you may continue believing so." He replied from behind his paper.
Winter narrowed her eyes. Weiss might tolerate when he decided to be difficult. However, the man was poorly mistaken if he assumed she would do the same. She reached forward, ripping the news out of his hands.
"Winter!"
"Good, you remember my name." She told him darkly, pristine military uniform with several metals gleaming him in the face. "Mutti would be chastising you up one side and down the other, if she were here. It's a pity such a burden fell onto me."
"Must you be so insufferable?"
"Must I take after her in ways that drive you crazy? Apparently so." Winter replied with a small shrug. "Weiss might not recall a great deal about her disputes with you, but I most certainly do. She would be livid if she could see the way you've been acting."
He gave his eldest daughter a scathing look, one that was half an annoyed scowl, and half a rage filled frown. "You know perfectly well that I've tolerated your sister's shenanigans to the best of my ability."
"Just as she has tolerated yours." Winter knew she was lucky to have been raised mostly with her family in one piece. "Mutti would have learned to love Blake and accept her into this family. I know it would have taken some time, but the two of them would have eventually hit it off…though in retrospect, she could be a little too doting and overbearing as well. Mutti might have had a gift for driving people crazy, but at least Blake would have felt welcomed."
"You are doing a wonderful job of reflecting those efforts." Wilson grumbled. "Winter, why are you here?"
"I can't visit my own father now?"
"Don't be a thorn in my backside." He ordered. "You always have an agenda. You don't come see me simply to titter about inane subjects like a school girl. You haven't done that for years. I highly doubt you've chosen to change that mindset so suddenly."
"Frankly, I have no choice." Winter said quietly. "You've forced my hand. If I have to choose between my military duty, and my sister, I will always, always choose Weiss. You didn't raise us to simply roll over in the face of adversity. We were raised to stand and face it. To defy weakness and face failure head on in search of perfection and victory. Surely you should have known that as adults, we would also face adversity that might also include you."
"Winter, I cannot forgive this transgression…"
"Like you couldn't forgive all the others…even though you obviously have, to some degree."
"Why must you two be so bloody difficult?"
Winter merely smiled a sad little smile. "Because unfortunately, Weiss and I have both learned that it is much easier to ask forgiveness from you, than it is to ask for your blessing. Weiss has you wrapped around her little pinky finger like a ribbon. All she has to do is show that you've truly distressed her and you fracture. You always have. You may not have truly spoiled her, but you've let her have everything she's truly needed. It's why you gave up fighting Weiss on marrying Blake, why you're biting your tongue about human progeny…it's why you will eventually give in this time too."
"Don't think you've escaped me just yet, Winter. I still have high hopes for you." Wilson told her. "You can't continue your services forever, and you will, one day, settle down."
"I have no desire for children." Winter warned him.
"You will, one day. I know you fairly well, you are, as you say, exactly like your mother in particular ways. The right man around will do wonders in changing your mind, should you let that impenetrable guard of yours down long enough for him to try."
"Never mind me." She rolled her eyes. "Worry about Weiss, she's exactly like you, in all the worst ways and you know this."
Being in the military afforded her a particular levels of freedom to speak freely with Wilson in ways that Weiss would never be given. Renouncing her place as a women carrying the Schnee name, enlisting herself in the military at an early age, and making herself disposable by that very government…all of it had afforded her freedom from her father in way that demanded he respect her.
That he notice her as more than just his flesh and blood…more than just his little girl whom he had to protect.
"Weiss is her own person." Wilson grumbled. "She defies me at every turn."
"Just like you defied gramps." Winter shot back. "With all due respect, the two of you never saw eye to eye about anything. When I see you fighting with Weiss, I feel like I'm looking at the exact same thing. He never could win his battles with you, even though he was sure you'd lost your mind on several occasions. You two are one in the same, so what on earth does that tell you?"
"That Weiss is going to find herself having one hell of a headache in her forthcoming future…" Wilson replied darkly. "Perhaps then she will come to understand…"
"Or she will be more upset that you could not understand." Winter returned softly. "My mother was not a perfect woman. She smelled strongly of wine, and spoke her mind with little regard for propriety. She had her moments of being completely offensive to anything and anyone who might cross her path. Ultimately, she was a smart woman, a loving one. When given proof of her errors, she would question and rectify them to the best of her ability…and that is a trait Weiss inherited from her, and not you."
"Are you done insulting me, or dare you pour more salt in the wound?"
"If it wounds you at all, for the better." Winter replied to him.
"You truly are insufferable when you're in a bad mood." He sighed. "Are you quite finished, or do you dare continue wishing my demise?"
"I only wish you to have just a little more temperance."
"And I wish you'd cease this obscene act of sisterly affection. I wish you'd see more reason than your sibling, but that's impossible to ask, now isn't it?" His voice grew chillingly cold. "This argument does not include you, Winter. Weiss has chosen to cast a stone at me for the last time. Do you understand me? The. Last. Time!"
"If Mutti were here right now, she would be ecstatic to be a grandmother. She would be gushing over the fact that her grandchildren would have the cutest little kitty ears in all of Remnant, and quilting little blankets with kitten paws all over them." It was no less true, but she cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Which is admittedly perhaps a bit insensitive to Faunus culture as a whole...however, no matter how accidentally offensive she might be, she would be no less elated about the topic…meanwhile, you sit here and refuse to even speak to Weiss."
"Unless you've forgotten, it was that same misplaced kindness and trust that got her killed." Wilson said, without heat, without anger, without anything at all but his own emptiness. "A Faunus murdered your mother in cold blood…and your sister chose to procreate with an animal that used to have affiliations with the organization of beasts that did it. Those...creatures...aren't my grandchildren, they're simply my relatives in accordance to bloodline. To me, it is as simple as that."
"Blake was abused by that very same organization. Those horrors are over. Weiss and I have moved on. I know that nothing can erase what happened, or ease the losses you suffered through…and I know some part of you will always be angry, because fury is how you mourn." She sighed then, maybe it was too much to ask, but she could still hope. "So continue to mourn until you're hearts content, but then learn to forgive and return to the land of the living with the rest of us. Your family will be waiting for you when you do."
A quiet sort of routine set in. One of silence, calm, waiting as the days drifted by for each of them. It was neither happy nor sad, it simply was. An ebb and flow of life itself, and it was this subtle understanding that spurred them on. Particular words were left unspoken, and that was accepted too.
Time dragged each and every one of them through the continuous realities that sifted through the emotional moments, like grains of sand in an hourglass.
Winter returned to her post, promising to return when the time for the children grew closer. Wilson refused to speak a word to Weiss…and Weiss refused to offer any sort of apologies to him. That was, perhaps, expected…or at the very least, acknowledged as fact.
After a few weeks, Ruby and Sun returned to Atlas with Zhu, and chose to continue living at the manor. Ruby was no closer to picking up the coin than before, and Sun had given up trying to soothe her determination. Choosing to wait with baited breath. Ruby wanted that metal arm so bad that it was nearly obsession, but still…she had returned with that carefully crafted band around her neck with care, and that alone spoke greatly of her fate, of the future she demanded to have.
No matter if she was a huntress or not, she would be with Sun, she would continue to raise Zhu…and they would be a family.
Yang and Yatsuhashi were splitting their time evenly among two houses, but it was not something that could last forever. Coco, Fox, and Velvet had a proper home in Vale to get back too. It was with this bitter truth that Yang found herself forced to make a choice. Stay in Atlas, or go to Vale. Wait for Yatsuhashi to be at her side, or leave so that she could continue to be at his. It was not an easy decision, and it was painful to make, especially with her little sister shooing her away.
"You smell like sandalwood…" Yang noted when she pulled her sister in for a hug.
"It's Sun's shampoo and body wash…"
"Why in the hell are you using Sun's crap?"
"Why do you think?"
"How would I...oh my god! You are not..."
"Yeah, I am…" Ruby grinned. "He's a Faunus, and a guy, what do you expect? That I was going to make him use my flowery stuff?"
"No…just, that…I...shit...never mind. Hey, what about the uh, you know…security division?" Yang asked for what had to have been the hundredth time. "Are you sure you can take that over? It's not as easy as it looks…and…your arm…"
"Blake used to be the lead on it, sis. I'm temporarily crippled, I'm not stupid. I'll bombard her and Weiss both with question, maybe you too. I'm sure, I'll figure it out…and Sun can stay with Blake."
"But she's getting like a balloon, I can't be two places at once."
"Velvet's more a balloon, which is why Yatsuhashi has to be in Vale. He's going to be in charge of taking care of the other kids while Velvet's in labor. You have to be there with him. You would be a terrible girlfriend if you weren't."
"I get that…believe me, I do, but it's not that easy."
"Nothing ever is, but they're your family now too."
"And now I have a nephew here to look after, thanks to you and Sun doing…" Yang gestured to the scent marker on Ruby's neck. "That…"
"Oh, you mean Sex? That thing you used to have back at Beacon, and then talk about, that used to embarrass me?"
"Oh, damn it, come on! Pretend I'm dad or something!"
"Dad already knows, and he doesn't care. Anyway, there's a lot more of 'that' happening." Ruby said dryly. "And you better just swallow your big sister speech right now, because Sun's going to be my mate. As soon as I take off this neck band, I've decided I'm throwing away his condoms too…so sooner or later, it's probably not going to just be Zhu…"
Yang looked like she was ready to faint. "Ruby…way, waaayyyy, TMI…"
"Better get used to it, Yang…it isn't just us anymore." Ruby laughed. "Faunus live in huge social groups. As soon as you're banded, you're like family. Velvet's kids might as well be your nieces and nephews too, because in Velvet's head, you're Yatsu's mate. She gave you an armband and everything. Even though Yatsu's not a Faunus, so she didn't need to. You got to know, this means something to them as a family."
Yang nodded, but it still didn't stop the guilt. "My being here means something to Blake and Weiss too."
"Sis, you'll be back here for Blake when the time's right…and then…when all of this craziness is all said and done…we can just…" Ruby shrugged. "We can figure out what to do from there…but for right now, this isn't about us, and what we want. It's about what Velvet and Blake both need. If you don't get your butt on that airbus, Yang, so help me, I'm going to knock you out and put you on the next one myself."
"I know, I know…"
"Then why are you still just standing here?"
"You know why, Ruby."
"Yang, go."
"I-" Yang sighed. "You're right…just…take care of yourself, Ruby…and if something happens, I'm back here in seconds, you got that?"
"We'll be fine, Yang." Ruby assured. "So, go to Vale, have a good time…and don't freak out. I've got my scroll, so call me when you land safe."