King: We're having the Party early this year.

Knox: It's not coming out on Christmas this year?

King: Not this year. This is happening now. Let's do this! As always I hope you enjoy.

Inspiration: N/A

Note: I had to get creative with the title to get what I wanted to on the top. So, for the OCD, I apologize. But it had to be done.

/\

As everything was winding down a little, the lights flickered before a series of red and green streamers shot out with a party whistle sound. The screen showed Teams JNPR and RWBY dressed in various Santa outfits with a banner reading [Merry Christmas!].

Nora shot up to her feet and gasped, "Oh my gosh! Is it Christmas again?!"

Weiss nearly fell out of her chair for another emotion, "We've been here a year?!"

"Technically, you haven't even been here a second." King explained again, "This realm is outside of space and time. Time isn't moving back in your reality, so you haven't actually been aging. We're just doing this again because Knox wanted to."

Knox jumped down from his balcony with a huge grin, "Damn right! Now, everyone get going. We'll call you over to the lounge when we're ready. Go on now." He shewed them all away and out of the theater room."

Everyone made to leave in groups, all going off to find something to do until they were called on again.

\/

In the arena, as they stated before, Tai and Sienna were sparring. Sienna had learned from last time and kept early attacks light to keep his increasing speed in check. Unfortunately, a professional Huntsman proved to be too good even at a relatively normal speed. He was quickly within her defences and kicked her feet out from under her. He followed suit and kneeled over in a way that placed his knee beside her, one foot on her wrist, and a fist pointed square at her nose to signify what he could have done. Sienna growled, but let her head fall back in defeat. With their match ended, the two found seats in the stands nearby to cool off. The quirk of the arena meant they were healed and re-energized after leaving, but mental drain didn't heal the same way.

Sienna sighed as she leaned back against the seat behind her, "I thought I almost had you figured out. Seems I was wrong."

Tai chuckled a bit, "Well, it is my job to be ready for anything in a fight."

"Mark my words, I will beat you one of these days. I'll make it happen before we return to our world."

Tai smirked, "I look forward to it."

"You're looking forward to losing?" Sienna turned to him, confused.

"Sure. Any teacher lives for the day they get knocked off their pedestal. Besides, I love a woman that can kick my ass."

That got Sienna to turn a bit red in the cheek.

Which, in turn, got Tai to laugh, "You should see your face~!"

Sienna grumbled and turned away to hide her current state. "Shut up! I won't be taunted by some masochist!"

That just got Tai to laugh harder.

"What's so funny now?!"

"That was the same thing Raven said when I said that."

That got Sienna to pause. She'd been able to piece together a lot from the sidelines. She knew Raven was his ex and that the woman named Summer eventually ended up with him, and he had a daughter each with them. She was also aware that Raven was a total bitch and, presumably, abandoned them leading to the Summer-endpoint.

Tai wiped away a tear as he laughter calmed, "Sorry, it was just too perfect."

Sienna had forgotten her embarrassment and turned back to face him, "What was it that drew you to her anyway?"

This surprised Tai at first, "What do you mean?"

"Raven. Based on what little I've seen so far, she doesn't seem like the type anyone could get along with, much less have a child with. Not willingly anyway."

Tai leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees and chin in hands, "Honestly, she's always been a bit of a bitch. But she was a different kind of bitch. She would go around trying to start fights. She'd break whatever pissed her off. But, when it came to us, her team, she always seemed… off. She was civil with Qrow, obviously; they're twins after all. She always seemed to compete with Summer, who didn't even notice it. Then there was me. She was… forward, to put it lightly. Basically told me we were going to date and when."

"That doesn't sound healthy."

"I was young and dumb. I didn't see a toxic relationship, I saw a tough girl that wanted me. Me. Believe it or not, I wasn't exactly a ladies man. Still not if you ask me. Finding one girl to like me back then was basically unheard of. So, I ran with it. Once we graduated, one thing led to another and Yang was on her way. It wasn't until after our daughter was born that she shifted from 'I'm in charge' to 'so you never.'" Tai gave a salute into a wave to emphasize his point. "If I had to put it into words, that would be them."

Sienna nodded, having her answer. She turned to look back into the arena. "For what's its worth, I think you're underselling yourself a little."

"Hmm?" Tai turned to her, not quite understanding her.

"Nothing." Sienna sighed and stood back up. "How about another match? I think I can figure out how to beat you this time."

Tai grinned and was on his feet in a moment, "Sounds like a plan. But don't expect it to be easy."

And so, round two began.

\/

Off in the halls, Whitely was walking through as he glanced at the doors around him. He wasn't sure what to do or where anything was, so it only made sense to figure what was around him in case something happened. Thankfully, most of the doors were labelled. But that led to something odd. He found a room labelled, [W. Nicholas Schnee]. It was, in a way, his full name: Whitely Nicholas Schnee. But he was confused why it was labelled this way. It would make more sense to have Whitely N. Schnee, W. N. Schnee, or just use his full name. He, in his curiosity, opened the door.

Inside was a quaint office room with a desk, full bookcase, and various other items for more relaxing work. He looked around and found too many similarities to his own room, including a crack in the wall where he, in his early teenage anger and frustration, punched the plaster away after finding out Weiss was going to remain heiress despite going into a career where she couldn't be the CEO. He had covered the damage and never told his father, but it was still there. Yet here, it was out in the open. He slid his hand over the crack before his hand clenched into a fist against the wall.

Why is it that she always seems so special? Why is she treated like his last resort? Words he's asked himself far too often. He sighed and decided to do something to relax. He found a box resting on his bookshelf where it had always been and removed it from the shelf. He opened it to find a series of tools and a small block of wood.

If there was anything in this world that made Whitely Nicholas Schnee feel better, it was creating. And his most common creations were simple toys. For now, wooden figures were his purview. He'd made some simple dolls thanks to his sewing attempts. He'd hoped to improve to one day be able to make something people could have and say, only Whitely could have made this. Of course, all of his successes weren't in the mansion. Father was adamant about Whitely's hobbies being more high society as opposed to, as he called it, low-class work. As a result, he gave away everything he ever made. In secret of course. His father would never let him hear the end of it if he found out about any of this. He would have a servant go to drop them off with some charity that gives them out.

He started to consider what he would do with the woodblock when he caught something in the corner of his eye. Sitting on the upper section of the desk was another wooden figure larger than anything he'd made to date. It was a scene of Winter, Weiss, and Whitely all sitting on a couch. Winter was sitting rigidly, almost militaristic in nature. Weiss was sitting properly, but more relaxed. Whitely, however, was sitting on the arm rest next to Weiss, his back against the corner of the couches back cushion. They were all smiling in their own way: Winter with a small smile, Weiss having a larger grin, and Whitely with a genuinely happy smile for the first time in so long. It had a message on the platform,, etching into the wood, [All I Wanted].

Whitely placed the tools down, his will to work lost. Now, all he did was look at the figure. All he wanted to do… was imagine.

\/

As everyone was getting used to the intermission, the intercom went off, "Party time! Make your way to the lounge if you want to celebrate!"

As they arrived, they found the lounge decorated to the nines. Just like last time, Everything was red, white, green, and gold. It was all like nothing many had ever seen. And those who arrived since the last time this happened were awestruck.

Maria whistled, impressed by what she saw, "Have to hand it to you, this is pretty impressive as parties go. What's the celebration anyway? What is this Christmas thing?"

King, who was dressed in what could be considered regal winter attire (of course in purple), shrugged, "It's different for everyone. The most important thing here is that it's a holiday to celebrate family and friends. To champion goodwill and a desire to be better as people."

"We also give out gifts!" Knox appeared again in a golden Santa suit. "And we finally figured out the 'letting you take them home' thing! We can actually give you guys stuff now! You can find your gifts over there under that tree," he pointed toward the massive pine tree with colorful boxes resting underneath it.

Ruby, being as child-like as she was, was instantly in front of the boxes looking for her own. She found her box, wrapped in red and black with a rose-shaped bow on the top, "Found it!"

Weiss sighed and shook her head, "Must you act so childish?"

Yang laughed and slapped the back of Weiss's shoulder, "Calm down, Ice Queen. You can't tell me you're not curious what you got." Yang leaned down to look through the presents and found hers, a yellow box with brown ribbons.

Now, most of them received rather utilitarian gifts, thing they'd use in common day to day activities. So, we'll go over the more notible.

Ruby tore into her box, sparing the rose-bow, and found a set of ten magazines for Crescent Rose. Each had a symbol of a rose with thorn-covered stems around them. She looked inside to find all but two being empty. The others were full with sniper rounds with a purple tip. "What are these?"

King tapped the tip of the bullet, "These are graviton rounds. They burst on impact and create small gravity pockets. You can replicate them with the right Dust combinations. I'm just giving you a headstart."

"That's so cool!"

Now Weiss had to admit she was interested. She found a white gift package with blue ribbons, her family symbol repeated at random about the paper. She opened it to find a small hair pin with a snowflake pattern. It wasn't her family symbol, rather a unique design of crystalline precipitation. It actually seemed to be made out of ice for good measure and fit well against her white hair with its pale blue color.

Blake was next to find her gift, opening the black-wrapped box to find a series of books including the infamously rare Third Crusade. She'd been trying to get her hands on it for years at this point, but no one ever had it. The others were Ninjas of Love 3: Realm of the Demon (the missing piece to her collection), Piece of Mind (a psychological thriller she'd been meaning to pick up), and a collector's edition of the original Ninjas of Love with a cover depicting the mask that became so important to the story.

Yang popped open her box to find new tools for her bike. She grinned as she picked out the various items. "Nice! I've been meaning to give my bike some work."

Tai chuckled and found his own gift next. Opening it, he found a black sweater with an orange dragon. Wrapped from one arm and down his back. The other arm had a series of stripes up his shoulder. He had to laugh again and put the sweater on, finding it to be a perfect fit. "Not bad. I've needed to get a new sweater before it starts snowing."

Qrow sighed, "Did you tear another sweater."

"To be fair, Zwei was responsible for this one. He got hold of it after Ruby went off to Beacon with Yang. Figured he was acting out since it was just us now."

Qrow shook his head and opened his own item to find a new flask with an etching of a crow resting from behind with its head turned back to the side. "Little on the nose here."

Raven wanted to just leave it be, but found her box anyway. It was wrapped in black paper with red ribbons. Within was an armor piece for her upper arm with a raven skull etched into the shoulder section.

Next to find their box was Winter, who found a new heavy coat. It was compliant for military use and certainly looks quite warm. Given Atlas's temperature throughout the year, it was nice to have something for when things get even colder at the end of the year.

Kali's box was actually the largest, but harder to move as a result. She just opened it right there and grinned from ear to ear like a kid again. Within was her old armor, down to the tiniest detail. And it wasn't replicated either. It was the pieces collected armor and repaired with new material, as if to show the story of the armor having played out before its return.

Gira smiled, happy that his wife was so happy. Then, she shoved his gift into his face. He raised an eyebrow and found a book on meditation practices and old shinobi survival techniques. It even included a 'cookbook' for healthy food items and what was edible in the wild and what wasn't.

Sun grabbed his box and tore it apart. His smile turned to shock before settling on a smile of nostalgia. Inside his box was an old photo of a group. The tallest was a man dressed in a monk's attire. The people around him were a group of three kids including what looked like a very young Sun. He could even list them all off if he needed to. There was him, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing. They were all Sanzang's students, and they were his earliest friends. He wondered if he'd ever get to see them again.

Neptune found a blue and seafoam box with his name on it. Inside was a trident shaped pendant with a silver chain to wrap around behind his neck. It was certainly pretty cool, and he put it on. But, he was a little surprised to feel his semblance kicking on. He pulled the pendant up to find the trident was made of a small blue crystal, Water Dust. He felt a little off at first, but it was actually kind of nice in a way. It was small enough not to set off his phobia yet still enough to work with in battle if he needed to.

Adam found a box with black paper, white ribbons, and a mask shaped bow. He was more methodical when removing the paper and looked inside. Within the box was a more friendly mask. Gone were the red lines of Grimm inspiration. Instead, it was a solid white mask more like the one he used to wear. A rebrand was likely necessary, and this would be a nice first step. He wasn't about to show his scar anytime soon, but this was a good start moving forward.

Sienna found a box wrapped in her favorite colors, orange wrapping with black tiger stripes. Yes, it was stereotypical in a way, but it was hers. She opened the package and found a scroll meant to be hanged on one's wall. It wasn't too odd, she owned a few as is back in her personal quarters that she would swap out now and then. She opened it to find a woodblock-esc painting of a tiger facing against a golden Long dragon amid a cloudy mountain scene. She liked the print and the aethstetic, but current events made it feel a little on the nose.

Glynda picks up a purple box with green ribbon and finds her name on the side. She used her semblance to remove the paper and was surprised to find an emerald colored jewelry box. She opened it to find it empty, but easily accessible and capable of holding all of her jewelry in an organized manner.

Ozpin found a new mug with [#1 Headmaster] written on the side. He chuckled in a way enjoying how straightforward it was. He glanced inside and found it more detailed than he expected. Within the mug was a panorama of Beacon Academy with the center resembling the courtyard. It was inside and unable to be seen without draining the liquid to be placed inside. He wondered if there was a symbolism behind that or if it was simply a novelty. Who was to say?

Port and Oobleck actually had similar gifts. They both received books in their field. Port got a Grimm studies text for planning new strategies. Oobleck got history tomes. Not books, tomes. These things were massive and likely weighed several pounds each.

Coco grabbed her gift and tore it to find a set of sewing patterns. After sorting through them, she found a few of them were labelled [Festive] and resembled the Santa suits from before (not that she knew what they were called at first). She found the basic suit, a dress version, a sexy Santa, the works. She found more filed within and she was getting excited to make them real.

Ren got his hands on a green box with pink ribbons. He opened the box to find a tea set and a book labelled [Zen Meditation]. It was something he'd have to look into, to be sure.

Jaune was able to find his box next as it was white with a golden ribbon. Inside was a pommel for Crocea Mors. It was a beautiful golden color with his symbol etched at the end. He found a note that read [End Them Rightly] and an instruction paper. Apparently, there was a Dust crystal inside the pommel that would activate if struck against the opponent without being stabilized by a connection back to the sword itself. The only way he could figure that would work is if he threw it.

Pyrrha opened a bronze and red box to find a set of white rings. They could all link together into a belt to wear as needed. She could also tell they were magnetic and thus could be used as a weapon, or rather a series of weapons. She actually liked the sentiment and its multi-use nature.

Velvet had stars in her eyes seeing a new camera with all the bells and whistles. It was an amazing model designed for in-action shots, more so than the camera she used to blueprint the weapons created by her projector. This camera, however, could be used for more leisurely photoshoots.

Nora literally ripped the pink and blue packaging apart and grabbed the box from the air. She opened the box and found a hammer-shaped, silver pendant with gold seeming to wrap around it over and over in an endless knot. It wasn't exactly like a hammer, but it was close enough (think the symbol of Thor). She also rather like the double meaning it could have with the gold wrapped around the hammer.

Emerald pulled up an emerald colored box with silver ribbons and a bow. Inside she found a bracelet with a beautiful green gemstone set in a golden frame that held close to her arm. She was glad it wasn't too large or too loose, allowing her to wear it as she wanted without having it get in the way. It was also tight enough against her arm that she could ensure it wouldn't be stolen.

Ilia opened her book to find a novel. Not just any novel either. It was Mira Rex! Mira Rex, or Wonderful King, was an old novel from before the Faunas Revolution. Before the Great War! And the thing that made it special? It was considered the first literature that treated the Faunas like people. It centers around a human prince who falls in love with a faunas girl. The entire novel is about the political world that tears them apart, only to find each other later. The book finally ends with the prince as a king (which happened halfway through the book) and finally marrying her. Of course, if anyone actually tried that in their time it would likely blow up around them. But it was a huge thing at that time. These days, Faunas and human relationships were common enough. Back then, it was unheard of. It's a piece of history and something that inspired her at times to think back that someone had the courage to make this happen.

It was now that everyone started to mingle again. It was a full party at last.

This included when Nora glanced toward the side of the room and had a grin on her face. She rounded the group and brought Velvet and Pyrrha to the side to discuss before pointing to the area in question. They instantly understood what she was saying and all turned to Jaune. They grabbed him and moved to the side of the room. Nora then pointed up toward a decoration hanging down over them; mistletoe. Jaune remembered that decoration and turned a bit red, only to get three kisses planted on him one after the other with a short pause between them. It was taking some getting used to that he was dating three girls at once, and this was definitely a 'thrown in the deep end' way to get over it.

Salem, his mother in another timeline brought to the theater to get around a pre-Knox screen's calls for her arrival, could only look on with a huge grin. He knew about the Non-Traditional Relationship laws and was so happy they could all be happy. She always knew her son would be popular with ladies if he could just be himself for a while.

It was all so wonderful, until they heard the door close again. It was revealed that Whitely had arrived late, his head hanging a little lower. Weiss and Winter saw this and turned to one another. They chose to make their ways over to him. They were about to say something before Whitely rushed forward, causing Weiss to drop a plate. The ceramic shattered on the ground and made everyone look toward them to see what happened, those with training getting ready for a fight on principle. But what they saw was Whitely, his arms wrapped around both his sisters and he pulled them closer as best he could. He said nothing, didn't even look up to them. But Winter knew what was happening. It was something she had seen from Weiss, who also recognized the situation.

However, unlike that situation, Whitely didn't cry, but finally spoke, "I'm still mad at both of you! Leaving me behind… I'm not strong like you two are. I can't do anything to gain father's approval. Mother ignores me more than either of you, like she doesn't even know I exist!"

This got Weiss and Winter to turn to each other again. True, they'd disappointed their father before, but he always let them do things they wanted to and approved of their excellence in other fields. Even when they both went off to other areas far away from the mansion, he always told them to be the best or don't bother. Their mother would acknowledge them at least, even if sometimes they kind of wish she didn't. They never considered that Whitely would be any different. That's when they brought their arms around to create a group hug. They hadn't been there for their little brother. Winter had always been there for Weiss, but neither had been there for him. That had to change.

And, as they've learned, there may be no better time to start than Christmas.