"I get… what?" Weiss asked in shock, more at seeing Yang enter her sister's room than her words that were still processing.
"You get married." Winter replied.
"I'm sorry, but you can probably see how GETTING MARRIED isn't a great way to NOT GET MARRIED!" Weiss almost yelled.
"Hold up, Princess." Yang placed her hand on Weiss's shoulder as she was about to get up. "And before you say anything, I'm sorry."
Weiss blinked in surprise at Yang's apology for the nickname and then sighed in defeat. She waved her hand to tell the two older sisters to go on and explain their reasoning.
"Okay, so you can't get out of marriage. That much is solid according to Winter, but there is a slight hiccup." Yang started.
"The part at the end, right after you say your vows, there is a part where the officiator will ask if there are any objections. Unfortunately, since you are technically a minor until you sign the marriage certificate, you can't raise your own objection without the authority of your head of household. In this case it would be Father." Winter said and stopped.
"But here's the thing, if you can get me in to the wedding, I can raise an objection." Yang said with a grin. "Then I'll get to have some fun with the bastard you're set up with."
"Why?" Weiss asked, noticing the glare in Yang's eyes and her tone of voice. It was the same one she'd seen before all of Yang's fights. It was looking for blood.
"Because according to Mystral tradition, the groom has the right to dismiss any and all objections by winning a duel with the strongest of the objectors." Winter explained. "There have been records of weddings postponed months if not years just because of objections that numbered in the hundreds of thousands, which resulted in a massive fights at the Coliseum. You've no doubt heard of Red Sunday."
Weiss felt a grin appear on her face. And then the look Yang gave her wiped it off.
"There's just one more problem with that solution." Yang stated sourly.
"The winner of the duel gains full rights to marriage, but if the winner backs down, you'll be married to the original suitor without exception." Winter stated. "Since you're a minor, you don't have a say, and since our father gave his initial permission for the wedding, there's nothing he can do if you accept the proposal from anyone else. In that way, there's absolutely no way to get out of your marriage."
Weiss sank in her chair. So she'd be getting married to the winner of a duel, or she'd be getting married to close a business deal. Whichever way she chose, it wasn't what she wanted.
"What do you want to do?" Winter asked quietly, and Weiss felt that brief wave of freedom wash over her once more as an idea entered her head.
"Weiss?" Yang asked, concerned at the small grin forming on her face the longer she thought her idea through.
"It's so simple… I can't believe we went through all this stupidity when I could have been planning!" She mumbled in disbelief as she looked up to Yang and then at her sister.
"Winter, I'll need your help to coordinate this and keep it quiet. Can I trust you?" Weiss asked hopefully.
Winter looked at her sister dead in the eye and nodded slowly. "Whatever it is, even if you can't tell me the details, I'll do it. I'm your sister, and I love you Weiss. I only want you to get your chance to be happy. Not to mention that I'd prefer it if we could still be friends."
"Sure got a way of showing it." Yang laughed as she looked down at the injured woman.
"Well, I'll admit that this was my shortsightedness." Winter conceded. "Our father has been a fairly bad influence on this topic."
"Alright Winter, I won't forget but I suppose I could forgive you. I need you to be on my side in this…. But, in any case, Yang?" Weiss turned to her teammate. She guessed she'd have more than enough time to talk to her sister later and she needed to get this wrapped up.
"What's up?" Yang smiled nervously. She didn't know what Weiss was thinking, but she hoped it wasn't what she'd been able to pick out from the conversation thus far.
"Would you give me your…" Weiss hesitated and took a deep breath. Yang took a step back, afraid the question she was expecting was about to come out of the heiress's mouth. "Would you give me your blessing? To marry Ruby?"
Yang sighed internally and moved back to where she'd been before. Then what Weiss had asked clicked.
"But she's even younger than you! How is she supposed to object and win the duel?" Yang asked in confusion.
"Not to mention, there's no way she'll be allowed anywhere near the church." Winter added.
"I know I should be asking your father, but I don't have much time left." Weiss said quickly, ignoring the objections. "Do I have your blessing if I can pull it off?"
"Uh sure, I mean I guess so. But she's the one who has to agree to it." Yang shrugged. "But isn't this a little… quick?"
"Yes, I know. But I already know I'll never willingly leave her. I need her desperately, it seems." Weiss stood and pulled her scroll from her pocket. "The only question is if Ruby feels the same way."
Yang watched Weiss flip her fingers across the device quickly for a few minutes before slowly nodding. "Then you've got me on board. I'll fill Dad in later."
"Okay, thank you." Weiss nodded as she turned and started walking out. "First things first, then. I need a ring, and I need cookies. Lots of cookies."
"Hey, don't go bribing her!" Yang called after Weiss but she'd already left the room.
"Relax, she's got a plan." Winter told Yang and gestured at the chair. "If you want, I'll tell you how I think she's going to pull this off."
"I got time to kill, why not?" Yang shrugged and sat down. "And if she pulls this off, you know we'll be actual sisters, right?"
Winter smiled. "Somehow, I think we'll get along just fine. My parents on the other hand…"
"And my Uncle hates your family's guts. Except he seems to think Weiss is okay." Yang supplied. "Just saying…"
"I suppose we wouldn't be a real family if we didn't fight." Winter sighed.
"Wouldn't be hunters if we didn't use our weapons." Yang added with a slight grin.
Winter closed her eyes for a moment. "We're going to have a lot of trouble after all this is over."
"Yup." Yang agreed with a grin. "But it wouldn't be much fun if it wasn't."
"I agree. But at least our fight is out of the way early. But this is what I think Weiss plans to do." Winter opened her eyes again and started the long explanation of what she thought her younger sister was planning. By the time she finished, Yang was grinning ear to ear.
Yang started laughing as she got up to leave the room. "If that's really her plan, it's crazy. But it just might work. And remember to return that book before you leave or I'll send you the bill… sister."
"Naturally, sister." Winter replied with a laugh, looking over at the massive old tome. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.