8 years later…
Weiss weaved through the forest, careful not to trip over roots protruding from the ground. Someone had recently trampled over the grass, but she pretended not to notice. Blake snorted, pointing to a trail of red and white rose petals leading to a thick, mossy tree trunk. Ruby was many things, but being stealthy was not one of them.
Blake loudly cleared her throat. "Where could they be, Weiss?"
A young boy's laugh cut through the silence. Someone shushed him immediately before they both dissolved into giggles.
"I'm not sure, Blake." Weiss continued just as loudly. "How did they disappear into thin air?"
Her son's muffled laugh grew louder.
They both exchanged a smirk before tip-toeing towards the giggling tree trunk. Blake and Weiss stalled for a moment before ambushing their targets from both ends of the tree trunk.
Jasper screamed in surprise while Ruby burst out laughing.
"How did you find us?" Jasper pouted, looking up at them with Adam's stunning blue eyes. "It was the perfectest spot ever!"
"Aunt Ruby left us a trail to follow." Weiss tousled his hair. The black horns on his head were beginning to grow out, poking out from his mass of white locks.
"Don't leave rose petals everywhere the next time you're hiding in the perfectest spot ever." Blake laughed.
"Jas wanted me to carry him with my Semblance. I couldn't say no," Ruby retorted. "You two shouldn't have been so observant."
"I want a redo!" Jasper demanded. "But next time, you and Mommy have to wear a blindfold!"
"A blindfold? Now that's not very fair." Blake pretended to look angry, putting her hands on her hips.
"It's super fair. Trust me!" Jasper laughed. "Come on, let's go again!"
"That's enough for now, kiddo," Ruby said, helping herself up. "Lunch should be ready by now."
"Aww, but I'm not hungry!" His growling stomach said otherwise. "Let's play one more time! It'll be super duper quick!"
Blake and Ruby looked over at Weiss. While they could easily go for another quick round, Weiss didn't want to push herself too hard. She only recently found out she was carrying her second child.
"How about this? Let's all get some lunch first, and then we can invite Daddy to play with us later," Weiss suggested. Jasper's eyes brightened at her idea.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go already!" He took her hand and pulled her back to where the others were.
The smell of roasted chicken wafted through the air, even before Saffron's house came into view. She'd inherited the home after Sapphire passed.
Although their original intent was to fly to Rumduol, Weiss suggested they drop by Orchid to surprise their old friends. They were ahead of schedule anyway. The last time Tanner and Saffron saw Jasper was when he was learning how to walk, and Sapphire was still around to brag about predicting their future together.
Lunch was roasting over an open fire. Adam and Jaune were in charge of it, while Yang helped Saffron and Tanner with dinner preparations inside.
"Daddy! Guess what?!" Jasper tore out of Weiss' hand like a mini rocket, leaping into Adam's arms when he turned to catch him. "Aunt Ruby did the cool swirly thing with the flowers when we were playing hide 'n seek, and I found this super cool spot but mommy and Aunt Blake cheated…"
He went on and on without taking a breath. It was exhausting just listening to his endless rambling.
"Sounds like you had a lot of fun, sport," Adam said once Jasper had completely caught him up on everything they'd done.
"Mommy says you'll play with us after lunch! So let's eat lunch super fast!"
"You're going to choke if you eat too fast," Jaune laughed. "Food tastes so much better when you eat it slowly."
"That sounds boring, Uncle Jaune."
"That wasn't very nice, Jasper," Adam chided lightly.
"But it's true, Daddy."
"Jasper. That's not how you talk to family."
Jasper bowed his head, sheepishly looking over at Jaune.
"I'm sorry, Uncle Jaune."
"No hard feelings, buddy," Jaune ruffled Jasper's hair. "Once we're done with lunch, I can play with you guys too."
Jasper's eyes lit up with excitement. He bobbed his head and went on another tangent about the games he wanted Jaune to try.
"You guys outdid yourselves this time. This looks great." Blake eyed the roasted chicken over the fire.
"If you're impressed with this, wait until later tonight. There's a lot to look forward to," Adam said.
"Yang's making her signature dish, isn't she?"
"What's a signa…tour dish?" Jasper glanced between the two of them curiously.
"Only the most delicious thing in the entire world, little dude," Yang answered, stepping out of the house with a stack of paper plates in hand.
"Even better than chocolate cake?"
"You can be the judge of that." Yang pinched Jasper's cheeks, earning her a bubbly laugh.
"I'll have to get the recipe off you if he ends up loving it," Adam said politely to Yang. Even after so many years, he was still careful around her. They'd only started talking more after Jasper was born.
"And let you steal my signature dish? Yeah, right," Yang snorted. "But I might reconsider if your roast duck is as good as I remember."
Lunch was a lively event, with everyone gathered around the campfire. Saffron brought them freshly squeezed juice to go with the chicken, and Tanner treated them to cinnamon rolls, much to Jasper's delight. The added dessert kept Jasper busy for the time being, giving them a chance to catch their breaths before he was ready to run off and play again.
"What are you all doing back in Anima?" Saffron asked once they'd all settled down by the fire.
"We're meeting a couple of friends for vacation," Weiss said.
It wasn't completely a lie. Ren and Nora invited them all to their new home in Mantle. They also have plans to hit all the popular tourist spots afterwards, but that wasn't the only reason they decided to fly down so soon.
Ruby explained the sites they planned on visiting. Jasper asked Adam about some of the spots Ruby listed out. Adam had already explained their plans the day before, but that didn't dampen Japser's enthusiasm. His excitement left him bouncing in place when Adam reminded him what they had to look forward to.
Seeing his carefree joy made Weiss' chest ache at what they had to do before embarking on the lighter half of the trip.
Jasper, while inheriting Adam's family name, was still a Schnee. They always knew he would need to learn about his family history. Weiss just hadn't expected the conversation to sneak up on them so soon. He was still so little.
Despite his age, Jasper was smarter than they'd all given him credit for. He was beginning to question why Whitley and Lily were looked down upon by Atlas elites, why he didn't have any grandparents, why they lived away from Whitley in Vale, and why work sometimes made Adam and Weiss so sad.
They knew it was time to talk about it when he asked Adam why he had SDC burned into his face.
When did her little boy grow up so fast?
They were going to start introducing his family history by visiting Rumduol. The familiarity of the village, coupled with the presence of his family, should make the truth easier to digest. At least, that's what Adam thought.
The village had gotten more modernised over the years, welcoming some forms of technology introduced by the Silver Robins. Jasper never noticed the strange looks he got from the newer members of the community, or maybe he didn't care because there were still many who welcomed his presence.
Weiss feared he'd be less inclined to greet the villagers once he knew why some felt reluctant to humour him.
"Mommy, I finished everything!" Jasper practically shoved his empty plate into her face. "Can I please go play now?"
"Fine, but stay close to the house until we're ready for hide 'n seek again."
He bobbed his head, sprinting to where they'd left his outdoor toys in the yard.
"I swear that kid has more energy than all of us combined," Jaune sighed once Jasper was out of earshot. "How can he be so hyper when you two are so calm?"
"Ruby has a bad influence on him," Adam joked.
"Hey! I'm just the best aunt in the world. It's not my fault he thinks I'm so cool," Ruby boasted. The silver heart urn around her neck twinkled in the sunlight.
"We're all going to be in trouble once he asks her how to run around with a scythe," Yang said half-jokingly.
"How did you learn how to fight with that?" Tanner asked Ruby. He was most impressed with Ruby's weapon when he first saw it.
"My Uncle taught me!"
The conversation moved away from Jasper and onto how they all picked up their fighting styles.
Weiss retreated inside to escape the sun once she finished eating. Even after eating a filling meal, her mouth still watered at the wonderful aromas inside the house.
Adam wasn't kidding when he told Blake they had lots to look forward to that night. The entire kitchen was cluttered with prepped food and spices. Bookmarked recipe books lay amongst the mess. They were going to fall into a food coma by the end of the night.
Weiss observed Jasper and Ruby playing outside the kitchen window, waving at him when he caught her staring. She heard his bubbly laugh even from inside the house.
"You feeling alright?" She heard Adam walk in behind her.
"I wanted to get out of the sun for a bit."
"You looked a bit troubled at lunch." He hugged his arms around her stomach. "Anything on your mind?"
"I'm a bit worried about how he'll react to learning about it…" she confessed, playing with the wedding band on her finger.
"We'll start small, remember? He's not getting everything at once."
"I wish we didn't have to do this in the first place."
There was no easy way to tell a young boy that there were people in the world who hated him for the crime of being born. It was going to be even harder to tell him his only living grandfather was one of those monsters.
Adam kissed her cheek, resting his head on her shoulder. "He's a tough kid. He'll be able to take it."
"I hope you're right."
"I am right. He has his family here to support him. He'll be fine."
Jaune, Yang and Blake were now joining Jasper in their convoluted play fight. Yang ran to their airship to unload a handful of colourful pool noodles. Jasper squealed with excitement at their new weapons.
"You have a point." Weiss clasped her hands over his. "Our son will be fine."
Weiss laughed when Blake and Yang pelted Jaune with their respective pool noodles. Jasper heroically intercepted their ambush from behind.
"I was talking to Jaune and Tanner about names we could use if this little one is a boy," Adam began. She knew exactly what he was going to say.
"No. We are not naming our kid Blaise."
She wasn't letting her potential little boy run around with a name fit for a pyromaniac.
"It sounds so badass, though. Tanner, Whitley, Ruby, and Jaune agree with me."
"Yang, Blake, Saffron and Winter think Sage is a cute name."
"Badass names are better than cute ones, Weiss. I bet if we ask Ren and Nora, they'll agree with me."
And if they somehow end up with another tie, poor Oscar will be the tie-breaker. It would be a blessing if their second child is a girl. No one had complaints about using the name Autumn.
"You're outright wrong this time," she persisted, laughing when he kissed her neck. "Flattery isn't going to make me change my mind."
"You can't blame me for trying."
Their son dragged Tanner and Saffron into the mix, laughing when they didn't hesitate to chase each other with pool noodles. Their alone time was up when Jasper turned his head at the window, calling them both to get out and join the fun.
"Well, I did promise you would play with him after lunch," she said. "You should get going."
"You're not joining us?"
"I want to be extra careful for the time being." She patted her belly. "Go on and fight on my behalf."
Adam moved them away from the window, turning her around to capture her in a kiss.
"At least come out to watch," he said. "Jas would want to see you there."
"I can't say no to that. I'll cheer you two on from the sideline."
"In that case, I'll be sure to make you proud." He kissed her forehead. "I love you."
"I love you too."
They left the house hand in hand. Adam left her beneath the shade and went to join in their son's chaos.
Weiss watched their family pelt each other with pool noodles, laughing along with the others. She rested her hands over her stomach, hoping their little one felt the same joy she did.
Details that didn't make it to the epilogue:
1. Whitley spoils his nephew rotten
2. Winter is the world's most overprotective aunt. She may or may not deploy Huntsmen to guard the house when she's babysitting
3. Family Baking Night is a regular occurrence in the Taurus household…and yes, Weiss took on Adam's family name :)
Random fun facts:
1. I didn't read "The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas" until I finished the first draft of this story. In the OG fic, someone mentioned it was very similar to that book, so I decided to check it out. It was kinda wild to see how similar they were. I did add some extra details to character descriptions after reading it, but for the most part, those early scenes were conceived completely from my head. It may be hard to believe, but the similarities are legit one big coincidence LOL
2. Research for the rewrite started in early 2022. The writing started on Jun 2022, then I went on a 2ish-month break after the first draft. Starting in October, I edited everything all the way until January!
3. Some instances of Faunus racism were inspired by stuff I experienced/saw irl. Not gonna tell you which ones. Reality is sometimes stranger than fiction . _ .
4. In my first draft, I spelt "Mantle" wrong in every instance… Don't ask me how…it just happened…
Big thanks to all the lovely people who stuck with me to the very end! You're the real MVPs~
This is likely going to be my last RWBY fanfic as I'm not a huge fan of where the show has gone. Unless something else catches my fancy, don't expect any more RWBY stuff from me.
If I'm insane, I might try playing with this ship again with an even more AU approach (I'm talking about a completely new world with loose connections with canon). I technically have a fun little idea, but the chances of that happening are slim to none as I've said all I wanted to say with this story. Don't be shy to unfollow my account, there are no hard feelings!
I'll still be around to fix a few chapters. I learned a bit too late that my italicized formatting never went through, figured out why, and now I'm going through the entire story again and reuploading the files. So small details here and there may change in the next few weeks.
I used to not like Frostbite very much. Always thought it was a weird ship that existed because it could. Obviously, after exploring the potential between Weiss and Adam, I changed my tune really fast LMAO.
This was the most fun I've personally had with a fic! Many months and hours of work were poured into this, and I enjoyed (almost) every minute of it!
My goal was to write the best story I possibly could for this niche ship. As someone who doesn't write all that often, this was one hell of a challenge. I'm sure it's debatable whether I accomplished my goal or not, but I personally feel proud and that's all that matters (because I'm a selfish fucker lol).
That's all from me! Take care, you lovely people 3
PS: I've revealed the OG Beauty and the Beast fic on AO3. You can now check out/revisit the first story that started it all! Just be warned that it wasn't edited as much as this story. It honestly serves as a first draft of this entire project :)