Author's Note: This story came about as a combination of Celestia's Paladin's request for a White Knight story and reading NameForsaken's story "The Real Weiss." The gist of that story, if you haven't read it-and you should, it's quite good-is Weiss coming to the realization that he is a transgender man. Here, I'm reversing that concept, to where Weiss has been a transgender woman this entire time, and she needs to deal with others finding out.

Not everyone is going to respect Weiss and her gender in this story, which may be difficult to read. It contains themes of gender dysphoria, and one instance of sexual assault, but it won't be all bad things for our favorite Ice Queen.

Falling Snow

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It wasn't that she was hiding the truth, really, so much as it was that she wasn't broadcasting everything about her life and gender to all and sundry. Weiss had been living openly as a girl for years now, taking hormones and androgen blocking medication with the support and love of her dear older sister, Winter. All things considered, Weiss was rather pleased with the results, finally comfortable with herself as a petite, slender young woman with gorgeous hair and killer legs. It spoke to the state of her family life that her father hadn't even noticed yet, paying little attention to her beyond checking headlines. Not for the first time, Weiss felt gratitude that her name was gender neutral.

Leaving Atlas and attending Beacon was the most liberating experience of her life. She had had some wild battles against the Grimm, had made true friends almost against her will, had learned to confront the prejudices that she had absorbed from both her family and Atlesian society as a whole, and, most recently, had participated in what was already being hailed as the most spectacular food fight in history.

When people spoke about her, it was in terms of "that crazy-focused girl on Team RWBY," or "that white-haired know-it-all," "the glamorous girl in the white dress," or even, occasionally, "Weiss, that heinous bitch." Okay, so maybe she wasn't winning friends and influencing people with the student body at large, but even that wasn't so bad. At least they were judging her for who she was, and not what she was.

She had her partner, Ruby Rose, who had declared that they were, in her estimation, "super besties," and had clung to her like a barnacle. As part of the bargain, Big Sister Yang had come along. After the unpleasantness regarding Blake's past and her own prejudice had been lanced out, the former White Fang and the Schnee heiress had formed a closer relationship, often sharing a quiet rapport at their more boisterous teammates' antics. She got along cordially with most of Team JNPR… but for their leader.

Who had been crushing on her since the day they'd met.

Weiss didn't know how to feel about that.

It wasn't as though Jaune was a bad person, so much as he was a hopelessly ridiculous one. He was easily the worst student in the school, bumbling and fumbling until his partner Pyrrha, in her mercy and grace, had deigned to tutor him in the combat arts. He didn't even have any clue just how much value that held. Pyrrha could command any price as a personal combat instructor, and she opted to volunteer her time and effort attempting to beat him into something resembling a dignified Huntsman.

Weiss couldn't take him seriously, so why should she give his silly, immature attempts at flirting any attention at all? By stark contrast, Neptune, a visiting student from Haven Academy, was everything that Jaune was not. Neptune was charming, sophisticated, a snappy dresser, and respectable. For the first time, Weiss had been infatuated, idly fantasizing about what it would be like to date someone like him.

Someone so cosmopolitan and sophisticated would take the information about her gender in stride, not like how a country bumpkin like Arc would almost certainly freak out about it. Neptune would take her by the hand and sweep her off her feet, and she could be just like any other young girl taken with a handsome young man. That was her daydream, anyway. The reality was considerably worse than that.

She had gone to speak with the blue-haired student at the gardens of Beacon one afternoon. The sun was bright in the sky, and flowers were blooming. With the sculptures and the columns, it made for the perfect romantic backdrop. There, she found Neptune casually leaning against a railing, effortlessly smooth.

"Hey," he called to her.

"Hi, Neptune," Weiss said, nervously brushing her hair back from her face. "So, the school dance is coming up, and I wanted to know… well, would you give me the pleasure of accompanying me to the dance?"

"Hang on," he said. "One of the other students from Mistral suggested something about you, and I want to make sure before I answer."

"Huh? What are you-"

Before she had a chance to respond, Neptune stepped forward and perfunctorily shoved a hand under her skirt. She gasped, her eyes wide as he grasped her genitals, the last part of herself that she'd ever want to be so callously abused. He was rough, and his tight grip on her sent waves of nausea and pain through her body. After a second of shock, she slapped him across the face, hard, and fell back a few steps as he let go.

"You were totally right, it's slinging dong!" Neptune called out over his shoulder, where, to Weiss's horror, a group of other students had watched, some of whom were laughing. Weiss clenched her fists as tears rose unbidden in her eyes. Her first crush, and he had called her an it. A thing. She was a figure of mockery, a grotesque, a freak.

Weiss fled.

She turned from the cruel scene and ran as fast as her legs could take her, blowing past other students in the hallways. She ran and ran, tears streaming freely down her face, and she didn't stop until she reached the sanctuary of her team's dorm room. She fell onto her bed with great rasping sobs. How could she have been so stupid? No one was ever going to see her as someone to date, to romance, to love. At best, she would be some strange curiosity, or perhaps a secret, shameful fetish to be quietly, discreetly toyed with and discarded. She was going to be alone for her whole life.

Weiss's misery only deepened when her Scroll buzzed with a notification. She opened up the school's de facto social media network to see that one of the visiting students had posted a picture of her with Neptune's hand under her skirt. "Weiss Schnee is a man!" the caption read. "Neptune confirms it!" Her Scroll fell from trembling fingers, even as it began buzzing wildly with alerts and messages.

She couldn't go home, where she would be met with neglect at best and further abuse at worst. She couldn't show her face around Beacon, couldn't bear seeing the confusion, disgust, or worst of all, the mockery on everyone's faces. Weiss didn't see any way out, so she opted to do the only thing she could; she pulled the covers over her head and just waited for this awful day to end.

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Jaune and Ren looked down the hallway where Weiss Schnee had just torn through at full speed.

"What's up with her?" Jaune asked, to which Ren could only shrug. Suddenly, their Scrolls both lit up, the unmistakable hallmark of something going down. The boys opened up the app to find out what was going on.

Jaune saw the picture.

Jaune saw the caption.

Jaune saw the commentary.

Jaune saw red.

Ren's eyes widened in alarm as his friend strode towards the gardens without saying a word, his fist clenched.

"Jaune, no!"

"Jaune yes!"

Concentrating on his aura, Ren brought his Semblance to bear on his team leader. The red haze drained from Jaune's vision, Ren's talent instilling him with a calm, reasoned perspective, a clear path on what he needed to do next. Ren sighed in relief.

"I'mma go kick his ass," Jaune announced, carrying on as if nothing had happened. Quickly stowing his shock, Ren ran to follow him.

Jaune found Neptune in the garden, chatting up some other girl. Roughly, he dropped his hand on the blue-haired boy's shoulder. "Hey, you!"

Neptune turned around, managing to ask "Yeah?" just before Jaune slugged him in the jaw. He crumpled to the ground, crying in shock and pain as the other students surged towards his attacker.

Ren sighed deeply as stood next to his team leader, hands up in a fighting stance and calmly resigned to the ensuing brawl. He did have interesting friends.

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Yang marched towards the library, her eyes red and her hair practically smoking. She ran into her partner and her fellow Faunus… friend? Stalker? Boytoy? Whatever, the main thing was that he was partnered up with the boy that had just publicly humiliated her friend, and that was not something that Yang Xiao Long was going to tolerate.

"Hey, Sun!" she called out in an obviously-fake friendly tone. "I was hoping you could point me in the direction of some asshole I need to kill!"

"Uh-oh." Well, seems as though Sun isn't as stupid as he looks.

"Yang, he was here with me, don't hurt him," Blake said quickly, moving in front of him.

"I just need to know where Neptune is. I need to pay him a beatdown."

"You'll do no such thing!"

All of the students winced as they heard the unmistakable tone of Professor Goodwitch, who, impossibly, sounded even more out of sorts than usual. "Let it be known that there will be no further instances of violent altercations over this incident. Is that understood, Miss Xiao Long?"

Yang showed no signs of backing down. "Is Neptune going to be punished for groping our teammate?"

"Mr. Vasillias is being held at the Headmaster's Office for a disciplinary hearing pertaining to his sexual assault upon Miss Schnee, along with Mr. Arc, who opted to assault him in retaliation."

"Really?" Yang's hair extinguished and her eyes shifted to their normal color. "Huh. Didn't know he had it in him. Go, Vomit Boy."

Goodwitch just sighed. "Mr. Wukong, as Neptune's team leader, your presence at the Headmaster's Office is required." Her gaze softened, slightly, as she regarded the two members of Team RWBY. "Miss Rose is on her way to the dormitory, where Miss Schnee was last seen. Doctor Oobleck also says that his office is open for counseling, should she require it. Go on, girls."

Glynda fought the urge to sigh once more as the two left. This whole day was one long headache. "Follow me," she said, motioning to Sun. It seemed the headache wasn't over yet.

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Weiss didn't stir when she heard the door open.

"Hey, Weiss." Ruby's voice was soft and unusually subdued for the normally energetic young girl. Weiss felt ashamed for anyone to see her in such a state, especially her younger team leader. While Ruby had been a surprisingly competent leader, it was mostly as a result of her ability to empathize with her teammates through her kindness and heart. There was still a lot that she had to learn, and Weiss had tried to demonstrate proper reserve and stoic dignity around her, to at least let her know what it looked like. She hadn't always succeeded, but she'd always tried. And now, Weiss was crumpled up like a used tissue, and she just couldn't stop herself from feeling that way. She couldn't even begin to try.

"We all love you, you know," Ruby said to Weiss's unmoving form. "You didn't deserve what happened to you. I just want you to know that we'll always be sisters in arms."

Weiss looked up at Ruby for the first time. Her eyes were red and bleary from the tears, her hair was frazzled, and her makeup was an atrocity. Ruby's bright silver eyes met with hers. There was no judgement in them, no mockery, just Ruby and her unstoppable Ruby-ness as she held her arms open in invitation. Weiss sat up and let the younger girl pull her into a tight embrace.

Some time later-Weiss couldn't tell how long, exactly-the door opened again as her last two teammates came in. By this time, Weiss had collected herself enough to take a deep, steering breath, let go of Ruby, and offer a brave little smile to her friends.

"Thanks Ruby."

"Ruby hugs make everything better," Yang noted. She and Blake sat across from Weiss's bed, the four girls facing one another.

Weiss took another steadying breath. "So," she began. "I guess everyone knows, huh?"

"About what that total jerk did?" Yang asked. "Yeah… Goodwitch says Ozpin has him in some disciplinary hearing."

"He isn't going to get away with it, Weiss," Blake added. "It was all over, there's no way he can deny what he did."

"Oh great, publicity," Weiss snarked. "Listen… about the… other thing." She looked down at her feet. "I was… assigned male at birth. You know, doctor looks at me as a baby, says 'it's a boy!' and for most people, that would have been the end of it. But… I was never comfortable that way. There was always something wrong. When I was younger, I would sneak around and wear my older sister's old clothes. It just felt right, you know? When she found out, I was sure she was going to laugh at me, or call me names, but instead of all of that, she helped me with my hair. She taught me how to walk in heels, and how to do my eyeliner, all while teaching me how to fight as well."

She wiped away half-dried tears with the heel of her hand. "Ugh, I'm a total mess. Anyway, four years ago, I started taking hormones and T-blockers, and that made me look and feel even better. It just felt natural, and since coming here, I could even forget about it at times. I guess I wasn't as careful as I should have been, since Neptune got suspicious."

"What happened there?" Ruby asked her.

"I went to ask him to the dance. He said something about checking for himself, and then he just up and grabbed my… well, my parts." Weiss averted her gaze, not wanting to see their expressions. "He was pretty rough about it too. I mean, who even does that? What kind of person just walks up to someone and grabs their genitals?"

"It would take a really awful person to do something like that," Blake said, her ears flat.

Ruby nodded her agreement. "I hope Neptune feels ashamed of himself right now."

"Yup, that's, uh, that's a real jerk move right there," Yang said, feeling somewhat nervous, and more than a little guilty. Mentally, she resolved to send Junior a fruit basket or something one of these days. "What did you do?" she asked Weiss, eager to change the subject.

"For a moment, I was just shocked, too surprised to register what just happened. Then I slapped him, I think, and pushed back away from him. By the time I had fully comprehended what just happened… he said some unkind things, confirming what he had felt to other students there. He called me an it, and people were laughing, and… and…"

Weiss broke off to wipe her face again. Damn tears kept springing up. "I'm sorry," she half-whispered. "I'm supposed to be a Huntress, and instead, I'm falling apart because of something stupid."

"We all have our vulnerable points, you know," Yang pointed out. "Neptune just happened to find one of yours, and stuck a dagger in it."

Blake retrieved a washcloth from the restroom, wet it, and then knelt in front of Weiss to help her clean up her face, gently wiping away the tears and ruined makeup. "There you go," she announced brightly as soon as she finished. "All cleaned up, and pretty as a painting."

"You guys aren't… you know, freaked out?" asked Weiss, looking around at her teammates.

Ruby plopped down onto the floor in front of her. "Why would you be? We've been living with you for months, and if Neptune hadn't made an issue of it, we still wouldn't have known about it. It's not like you're flashing everyone in the room all the time, like a certain somebody. Yang."

If Yang was at all phased by her little sister's admonition, she wasn't showing it, instead opting to arch her back to stretch her muscles-and her shirt-near to the breaking point. "Hey, these babies need room, you know?"

With a mischievous little wink towards her partner, Ruby threw a pillow at her sister, catching her right in the face. Yang snatched up two of her own in retaliation, and just like that, the most epic pillow fight in Remnant's history was on.

And for just a little while, normalcy was restored to Weiss's life in all the chaos.

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Chapter Endnotes: I'll freely admit I'm being unfair to Neptune's character by ramping up his character flaws to eleven.

The assault scene was pulled straight out of the 1986 movie Crocodile Dundee, except here, the groping and public humiliation isn't played for laughs. Yeah, it was a long time ago, but it was cruel back then, too.

Chapter 2 coming soon!