Willow Schnee sat alone in her room, swirling the end of a bottle a wine in the glass absentmindedly. She had taken back the pieces of her life, but she was a broken woman. She had been broken for years but losing her daughters made it worse. She could only hope that the girls were together and happy, but after the news she had heard, she greatly doubted that they were even alive. She hated her loathsome husband for refusing to fight for them and she bitterly wished that he would just hurry up and die. She sighed, at least he was away on "business" and she could enjoy some time alone.

There was a pecking on the window and she looked out and saw two birds, one black and one white. It struck her as odd, but she opened the window to get a closer look. Instead of flying away, the white crow poofed out of existence. White glyphs appeared and there was a puff of black feathers. Willow almost collapsed at the sight. Before her stood her eldest daughter with a blue wrapped bundle in her arms and a tall dark haired man who kept a protective arm around them. Winter looked older and her hair was much shorter. Her skin had a number of pale freckles and smile lines had worked their way onto her face.

"Hello mother, I'm sorry to intrude. I would have brought Weiss but she's busy with school. Do you mind if we come in? I have someone to introduce you to." Winter smiled. Willow looked in confusion at the tall dark haired man and he grinned.

"Not me, we've already met." He winked at Willow, just as he had on the day of Winter's failed wedding.

Willow covered her open mouth and took a step back to let them in. Winter adjusted the bundle in her arms and pulled the blanket away so that her mother could see the baby swaddled in the blue bundle more clearly. The baby would be no more than six months old. She had very fair silver hair and lavender eye. The baby smiled up at the older woman and began to wiggle.

"Mother, this is your granddaughter." Winter grinned. Willow embraced her daughter and sobbed happily into her shoulder.

"She's so beautiful." Willow whispered and kissed her daughter and granddaughter on the head. "Is this really true or have I really had that much to drink?" Willow asked, holding her daughter close. The baby began fussing and Qrow took her and tried to settle her down.

"It's true, we're here." Winter patted the older woman's back.

"Why now, after all of this time?" Willow asked, sitting down on the bed.

"I suppose I didn't realise how you must have been feeling. I was very selfish, but very happy. However, I am a mother now too and I know that if I ever lost Robin I would miss her no matter how much time went by." Winter reached out for her daughter and Qrow handed the fussy baby to her mother.

"Does that mean that you're staying?" Willow asked, hope filling her eyes. Winter looked at Qrow with a sad frown. Qrow understood and spoke up.

"Sorry Willow, but I took her away from here for a reason and I can't give her back. We were only able to visit because we knew Jacques wouldn't be here. You know as well as we do what would happen if he found out about any of this." Qrow put a comforting hand on his wife's shoulder. Willow nodded sadly.

"Will I ever see you again?" Willow asked, tears forming in her eyes.

"I hope so." Winter looked into her mother's tearful eyes and began to water up herself. "Maybe next time Jacques goes away you can patch a message through to us." Qrow suggested.

"I was hoping you wouldn't go for something so thinly valed, Qrow." Winter teased and smiled.

"Well, I figured she would need a Beacon to let her know what we're doing." Willow frowned for a moment and thought, then smiled widely.

"You know, Jacques isn't the only one that goes on business. I think I may find myself in the new republic of Vale around the final frost, perhaps Solstice as well. I have quite a number of high profile parties to attend but I may be able to escape to the countryside to relax for a bit." Willow winked at her daughter and apparent son-in-law.

The two women sat together and chatted for hours. Robin was smothered in affection from her grandmother and Winter was able to fill her mother in on some of her adventures over the years and how Weiss was excelling in school and was already guaranteed a position in the Kingsguard. The girls were reluctant to acknowledge the sunset until Qrow stood and held a hand out for Winter.

"Already?" She asked, surprising even herself at her reluctance to leave the hellhole where she grew up.

Qrow nodded and took Robin. Winter hugged her mother and the two shared a long, tearful goodbye. Willow then hugged Qrow tightly and thanked him once more for everything. He handed Robin to the new grandmother and she held the child close to her heart and kissed her head of silver locks. The baby smiled up at her and reached out to her grandmother. Willow held back another round of sobbing as the child grasped her finger tightly in her own tiny hand. She handed the child to its mother and waved a final goodbye. Winter summoned her glyphs and descended carefully, trying not to jostle the baby. Qrow waved at his mother-in-law and transformed into a crow before flying after Winter.

Willow sat on her bed and sobbed. She was heartbroken to have to say goodbye to her daughter, but elated that both of her girls were happy. Winter was married and had a wonderful child, and Weiss was in school! Willow opened the window and emptied every last bottle of wine in the room before throwing them away, this time for good. She sat down and immediately began planning her next solo trip to Vale. Perhaps in time she would have even more grandchildren to meet and never tell her husband about. It would seem the only good thing that Jacques ever did for their daughters was to let that man take them away.

A/N:

I finished something! Here it is in its final glory. Let me know what you thought of this long adventure. Thank you for reading through it with me 3

On a side note, I have a couple of other snowbird fics in the works, one i'm halfway through is a Teacher AU so keep an eye out if that interests you. Let me know if you think of any other AUs or prompts that you want to see too and I will do my best.