A/N: This is a Requested work.

Winter Schnee stared at the papers as she sat at her bedroom's desk. It was an expensive piece of furniture. Carved out of pure, Valean mahogany, its shape and structure recreated a school desk from the turn of the century. The chair possessed a curved seat and back as two separate pieces of wood connected by connecting steel forged in the fashion of apple branches. The forward legs branched forward to hold up the desk compartment. The board was 28 x 21 inches and could be lifted to access the storage compartment. Father had purchased at the request of one of her childhood tutors, who had wanted something to facilitate lessons and 'chasten her unseemly stubbornness'. That was why the desk came with no cushion or modern amenities. Father's expensive agreement had had the opposite effect on Winter's attitude toward Oak's lessons.

It was why she, an older teenager, forced herself to use it at this moment, even as her outfit protested being crammed into the small seat. Her navy blue, sleeveless vest was fine, but her white dress shirt and slacks were no doubt collecting wrinkles.

All of which she barely noticed with most of her attention locked on the set of papers on the desk. It was a form, asking simple questions like her name, address, etc. One word at the top echoed in her mind: Enlistment.

Her index finger tapped the form as she stared. She wasn't holding a pen. It was still in the desk. She glanced at the sabre leaning against the wall between her desk and armoire. It was an elegant instrument of combat that she had become quite intimate with over the past year. Her secret partner as her destiny, little by little, drifted away from SDC.

That secret was dead. Her very public visit to the recruitment office would soon reach Father's ears. She had a good idea how he would react, but there was a chance she could be wrong. This path, it would cost so much. Not just of her, but of her family. She'd burn bridges with her parents. She didn't quite hate Father, yet, but there was still some hope things might get better with Mother. Maybe a slight hope instead, given how she kept drinking more each month. Meanwhile, Whitley had become obsessed with mirroring Father. That had quickly soured their relationship as her adorable brother became the most vexing cheerleader.

But Weiss, Winter fretted.

There was a knock on her door. "Winter? May I come in?" Weiss called out.

Winter snatched the enlistment forms before snapping open the desk. She threw the papers inside, burying a crimson feather. "Just a moment, Weiss," she replied in a carefully measured voice. Just as delicately, she closed the desk without a sound before hauling herself out of it. She was thankful she wore socks to mute her steps as she hurried over to her bedroom dinner. As befitting their wealth, her bedroom was large enough to fit in an entire apartment unit. Decorations were few outside a few photos, leaving the expensive furniture to do most of the aesthetic work. It actually suited Winter, who preferred a more spartan lifestyle.

She opened the door to find her younger sister smiling up at her. Still four months short of a teenager, Weiss hadn't had her growth spurt yet, leaving her to look far more childlike than her actual age. The white dress with a miniskirt and a pale blue vest over it made her look more like a doll than a woman.

The rapier, however, was a never-before-seen addition.

Weiss beamed. "Good afternoon, Winter."

Winter's smile was less sure. "Good afternoon, Weiss. It's a bit early for your lessons to be over, isn't it?"

Weiss nodded. "Mister Rauthaz had to retire early due to an upset stomach. So, I took it upon myself to insatiate a different lesson." She patted the hilt of her rapier. "Combat training."

Winter's smile became more brittle. "I think you meant to say 'initiate', Weiss." Her younger sister's decorum lessons failed her as she blushed in open embarrassment and dropped her gaze. Winter granted her some relief. "More importantly, combat training? You know what Father thinks about us taking up arms."

Weiss gladly accepted the reprieve as she tried to smile past the embarrassment. "I know Father is protective of us, but I've decided that possessing some self-defense ability only makes sense given our station. After all, we do have private security for a reason."

"One of the reasons being so that we don't have to worry about defending ourselves."

The counter caught Weiss off-guard. "W-well, yes, that is, uh, true, I suppose, but! The situation is, uhhh, more complicated than that!"

Winter cocked an eyebrow. "How so?"

Already faltering, Weiss tried to rally as she heaved from one unsure word to the next confused one. Until finally, she blurted out, "But you're getting lessons from Chief Stahl!"

Thinking about her secret tutor helped keep Winter's face clear and poised. Even when she remembered she had left her sabre out in the open. I was distracted by the papers , she cursed. She did not lean against the doorframe to hide it from Weiss. That would be akin to slouching, which was uncouth and forbidden in the Schnee mansion.

She did step toward one side of the doorframe to accomplish her purpose.

"And why do you believe in such a ridiculous thing?"

Weiss' proud smirk was not reassuring. "Because he told me."

Winter folded her hands behind her back, like the parade rest position she had seen soldiers do, and squeezed the life out of them. I'm paying him my entire monthly allowance for the lessons and secrecy! By some miracle, she kept her voice level. "Why would he tell you that?"

"He says if I want the same lessons, I needed to match your pay."

She defenestrated poise as her face cracked with pure vexation. "That treacherous mercenary!" She hissed. This means Father must have known the entire time. Why hasn't he said anything? Wait, maybe there's still a chance he doesn't know. "How did you know to ask Stahl?"

"Klein spotted you sneaking into the gym four months ago." She hefted up her rapier. "That's when I put in a custom order for this." Her face morphed into a pout. "I wanted to add Dust to it, but Klein insisted that it was dangerous enough for me to learn how to use a sword without adding possible explosions. Which is so unfair! I'm well ahead in my Dust studies! I should be able to-"

Winter tuned out her younger sister's rant to focus on the real issue. If Klein knew for that long, then everyone must know, except maybe Whitley. This does explain why Weiss has mirroring my workout routines, but why has Father said nothing? Does he… support my endeavor? She couldn't believe it. Not after all of their arguments over career, protocol, and just life. Far more likely he viewed this as a fad. Or he didn't want to add a new dimension to their arguments.

"-so, what do you think of my proposal?"

With a blink, she refocused on her sister. "Hmm." She put her chin into her hands and waited.

She really did love her sister, but Weiss did have a bad habit of going on her tangents. Thankfully, Winter had a solution for these occasional lapses of concentration. After a few seconds of 'considering', Weiss blurted out, "I swear I won't be a burden to you, and it's important to match oneself against multiple opponents, including neophytes in battle."

Ah. Weiss had come back around to her original suggestion of sparring. Winter, authentically, weighed it this time before giving a slow nod of assent. There wasn't a point in hiding the truth now. Not to mention, they may not have much quality time left if Winter did follow-through on her plans. "Very well, Weiss. I accept."

Weiss' smile could have blinded the Sun. "Make whatever preparations you must, sister. I'll meet you at the gymnasium."

Before Winter could affirm, Weiss hurried down the hallway. Winter's following smile was fond with a hint of melancholy. Knowing her time in this mansion might soon be coming to an end suddenly placed a new emphasis on her experiences. Perhaps that was why she was none too fussed to retrieve her sabre. No matter what happened with Father, this item would accompany her. Her gaze lingered on the old desk for a moment.

Then, she was off.

As declared, Weiss was waiting. The Schnee gymnasium was, by far, the largest room of the entire mansion. It had both a quarter-mile track, a swimming pool, an equipment quarter, and an arena. Most of which went unused by the family. The pool had once seen regular use by the family in happier days, but those were long gone. Winter, as far as she knew, was the only regular, since the staff was forbidden from using the gymnasium without explicit permission. Yet another measure of control Father insisted, and Winter had argued against.

It was unsurprising to see Klein waving from a corner. What was surprising was that Weiss was in the same outfit. "Weiss," Winter greeted with a confused tilt to her head. "Aren't you going to change?"

Weiss mirrored Winter's tilt. "Whatever for, sister?"

"It's not a practical choice for a spar."

It had been Stahl's first lesson. "Skirts for society, pants for pounding." He had then proceeded to pound her into the gym floor for their first spar. Winter had requested he not hold back; however his enthusiastic assent to her request had left Winter wondering if their chief of security might have cause to resent the Schnee family.

A confident smile appeared on Weiss' features. "Fret not Winter. I have it on excellent authority that it is only necessary to maintain freedom of movement for one's legs to spar well, which can be accomplished with either trousers or a short-enough skirt. While your preference is plain to see, I aspire to be more of a lady. Furthermore, we are only sparring, are we not?"

She's really taking to those media and communication lessons. Winter frowned. "What about modesty?"

"Modesty?"

"Yes, if your skirt goes up for any reason, you will be giving everyone around a show…"

This scenario had apparently never occurred to her younger sister. Her cheeks lit up as she stuttered, "W-w-well, it's just us here."

Winter pointed. "Klein is right over there."

Weiss squeaked. "Klein! Turn around until the spar is over!"

The beloved butler did not chuckle. He did sound amused as he replied, "Yes, Ms. Weiss."

"N-now then!" Weiss lifted her rapier into a beginner's stance. "Let's begin!" She declared with only a slight crack in her voice.

Winter thought about pushing harder against the skirt. She noted several weak spots in Weiss' stance. Yet, in the end, she wondered how much time they had left before father returned home. With such a big conversation looming and with so little time left, Winter decided to not mention these things. To just spend some quality time with her little sister.

Instead, she assumed her own stance and nodded. "Ready when you are, Weiss."