"Jacques Schnee. You're under arrest." Weiss flashed her Hunter's License towards him. After a moment, she looked back towards Ironwood. "…Can I do that?"

Everyone was about to run out of the room once they received the order to protect Mantle as there was a Grimm attack and that the heating was cut off.

Weiss was about to run out with the group but her mother's words ran in her mind.

"Please don't forget about your brother. You left him alone. With us."

Gritting her teeth, she stopped in her tracks.

"Weiss?" Ruby stopped running when her partner stopped.

"I have something to do." Weiss bit her lip. "Go on ahead. I'll catch up as quickly as I can."

"A-Alright?" Ruby was confused but trusted her partner, though that didn't mean that she'll leave her alone. "I'll come with you."

"Fine." Weiss rolled her eyes as she ran deeper into the manor, looking for a specific person.

It didn't take her long once Jacques was to be taken away and the person she was looking for was sitting on the stairs.

"Whitley…?" Weiss started but he just grunted and ran up the stairs just before watching his father get into the airship taking him away to prison.

Weiss frowned when he ran but couldn't blame him. She looked at Ruby for a moment then walked up the stairs after her brother.

"Whitley?" Weiss called as the young man moved into his room, sitting on top of his bed. Sighing, she stayed by the door, knowing how awkward things have gotten between them over the years. "Are you—"

"No, I'm not alright. Just leave! You're going to leave anyways. You all do." Whitley spat and turned away from the door.

Ruby was taken aback from the crudeness but otherwise didn't say anything, she looked at Weiss, more worried about her partner but also looked at her scroll. They had to wrap this up quickly.

Weiss looked at Ruby and sighed, knowing that they had a mission to go on, but she couldn't just leave her family like this.

"Whitley…" Weiss looked back at him from the door. "I do wish that we could be a family again. I'll be back soon." She closed the door and ran after Ruby.

"Sis…" Whitley whimpered in the darkness of his room. He curled into a tight ball. "Don't leave…"

And he was left alone again, trying to sort out his emotions.

Weiss grunted as she summoned her knight; she swung her rapier against the sabers that got too close to the civilians. Her scroll buzzed but she ignored it. There wasn't any time for her to be distracted by anything. They had a mission: protect the civilians, and get them to safety.

Her scroll buzzed again and she grunted as she took a quick peek. She was about to answer and give whoever was trying to contact her a stern talking to, but when she read the message her eyes widened.

Unknown: Winter Maiden is in danger. Cinder Fall is here. Hurry.

Weiss bit her lip as she looked towards Nora and Marrow. She was about to call out to them but her scroll buzzed again.

Unknown: Winter is injured.

That did it. Weiss couldn't wait anymore. She looked at her knight willed it to become smaller and smaller until it was just a few inches taller than her. Thanks to her training with Winter, she can control the size of her summons efficiently, thus saving some of her aura for when it's important.

Weiss silently ordered the knight to protect the civilians as well as Nora and Marrow if it comes to it, before summoning a Queen Lancer and flew back to Atlas.

'Please Oum, let me make it back on time…'

Winter grunted as she blocked Cinder's swords and glared at her, pushing her back. She didn't want to move too far in case her enemy had an accomplice; she would not leave Fria open to attack.

"Being careful with your grandmother?" Cinder sneered as she pushed Winter back.

"Worry more about yourself!" Winter took a step forward and shoved Cinder back against the wall. "Cinder Fall, you're under arrest!"

Cinder just let out a small chuckle and smirked at her.

Winter sneered at her. "What are you laughing at?" She growled.

Behind her, Cinder conjured one of her flaming swords and hurled it upwards at the ceiling. Winter heard the sword imbed itself into the plaster and her eyes shot up. The fire from the sword branched out across the ceiling like lightning. Pieces started to fall, before the entire roofing plummeted down towards them.

"What?!" Winter jumped back, the rubble scraping her leg as she raised an arm protectively.

"Is the poor child weak now?" Cinder conjured a spear in her hand. She was about to throw it, but the wall with the doorway was destroyed. Cinder growled. "Oh, what now?!"

Weiss stepped into the room, her rapier pointing towards the fall maiden. "Cinder Fall! You will not be killing anybody else as long as I'm here!" Weiss declared as she lunged at the raven-haired woman.

"What are you doing here?!" Cinder hissed, jumping back. "I left you for dead!" She was sure that she hit a vital organ last time back at Haven.

"Weiss?" Winter blinked. "What does she… never mind that, what are you doing here?"

Weiss narrowed her eyes at Cinder. "I got a message saying that you needed backup." She glanced back at her sister then back at Cinder. "You can concentrate on fighting Cinder, I'll watch Fria."

"No. You should be the one to fight Cinder," Winter insisted. "Show her that you're not the same person as you were before." Winter smiled at her proudly, hiding her injury.

"Fine then," Cinder raised her weapon and got ready to charge at the two. "I'll have both of you dead. That will show Ruby."

"Leave her out of this. This is between you and me." Weiss glared at the woman before she raised her weapon, getting into her fighting stance.

"Great job, team!" Ruby smiled at everyone wearily. She felt so exhausted from fighting Grimm while making sure that the civilians made it out unharmed.

The young leader looked over everyone, as expected they were just as exhausted as she was. She did a mental head count as she looked over everyone.

Ren and Nora were leaning onto each other sitting on one side of the airship, as were Yang and Blake. Jaune was panting heavily while leaning on his sword as he took his seat next to Nora. Elm and Vine leaned against the wall while Marrow and Harriet sat at the front of the ship, preparing to take everyone back to Atlas. She frowned when she didn't see Clover or her uncle but they could take care of themselves. They were more experienced Huntsmen after all. But she felt a chill go down her spine as she realized that someone was missing.

Specifically… her partner.

"H-Hey…" Ruby looked at everyone frantically. "W-Where's Weiss…?"

Nora looked up and looked down, biting her lip.

"She went MIA." Marrow grunted as he looked over his shoulder.

"W-What?" Ruby looked at the Faunus in shock. She was about to storm towards him but Yang got up and placed her hands onto her shoulder. "What's that supposed to mean?!" The young leader looked at Nora who was staying quiet. "Nora? Please tell me what happened."

"I… we…" Nora sighed as she looked up at Ruby. "We were gathering all the civilians into the airship, Weiss went one way. I went another. By the time I got the last civilian, Marrow and I just… saw Weiss' summon leading some civilians towards the ship…"

"So you two just left her?!"

Nora shook her head, unsure of how to feel seeing Ruby like this. "We checked everywhere before we left! We even tried calling her scroll, but her signal is weak!"

"W-What?" Ruby quickly pulled out her scroll and saw that Weiss' signal kept flickering from one to no bars. "W-Weiss…" Her eyes hardened as she glared at Nora and Marrow, her tone turning dangerous. "How could you let her out of your sight?!"

"Ruby, stop acting so childish! Weiss is a Huntress just like the rest of us. She'll be fine!" Harriet growled from the pilot seat. Whatever appreciative feeling she had of the young leader earlier was lost that instant.

"No!" Ruby just stomped her foot down, knowing that she was being irrational about this. There was just this feeling in her gut when she realized that Weiss was missing. "You don't know Weiss! I… She…!" She panted heavily, trying to control her breathing.

Yang quickly stood up and placed her hands on Ruby's shoulder, slowly rubbing them to calm her sister down.

"Kid, what's going on?" Marrow frowned as he got up. Every instinct said to stay away from Ruby, but he felt responsible for watching over Nora and Weiss.

"… Her …" Ruby mumbled.

"What?" Marrow raised a brow and tilted his head, unsure of what she said.

Ruby glared at the older Faunus with such venom and grabbed the collar of his shirt. "You said that you'd watch over them! So where is she?!"

"Ruby!" Yang pulled her sister away from Marrow and held her back.

"Ngh! No! Weiss! I-! She-!" Ruby squirmed, fueled by distress.

"Ruby!" Jaune stood up and placed a hand onto her shoulder. When Ruby continued to squirm and ignore practically everyone shouting her name, he took a more commanding tone. "Ruby! I need you to look at me!"

Ruby just grunted as she glared at Jaune for a moment then realized where she was before she bit her lip and looked away.

"Hey, we'll find Weiss. I promise that she'll be fine."

Ruby let out a breath in despair. "Promise…" Ruby mumbled almost brokenly.

Weiss grunted as she was slammed against the wall. She quickly stood up, panting heavily.

"You're still horrible with one on one fights." Cinder chuckled as she looked at Winter. "Maybe I should demonstrate what happened in your fight back in Haven?" She taunted. Fighting two Schnees at once would be difficult, but at least she could have an opening to kill Fria and take the Winter Maiden powers for herself.

Weiss panted as she dug her weapon into the ground steady herself. She knew that Cinder was taunting her. Weiss saw how Cinder taunted Jaune back in Haven; she wasn't going to fall for it. Weiss glanced at Winter to make sure that she was still calm.

Winter was not calm. This was her younger sister that she cared for being taunted and belittled. Not only that, but what injury was she talking about? Weiss never mentioned an injury to her when they were alone. Once this was over, she knows damn well she will be asking Weiss about what Cinder means. When they both get out of this alive.

Cinder created a spear, the same one that she used to impale Weiss in Haven. The ex-heiress flinched at the weapon but did her best to show that she wasn't scared of it. Though her body unconsciously shifted so that her old wound was facing away from Cinder.

"Still scared? How cute. Now this is the end." Cinder sneered as she lunged at Weiss.

Weiss wanted to slash at Cinder, but her body created a shield instead to push the Fall Maiden back. She cursed herself for reacting that way, knowing that she was scared. But she tried to get the image and pain of that spear piercing through her body out of her head.

On the bed Fria struggled to open her eyes, feeling extremely weak. The smoke coming from the flames engulfing the room were not helping her breathing. She tiredly looked to where Weiss was; seeing how she was struggling against Cinder, but the light of hope never leaving her eyes. No matter how injured and tired she was, she still kept fighting. It reminded her of the olden days where she was the same. She remembered Winter mentioning Weiss once before, how she was proud of her little sister and all she's accomplished, and thought about Weiss.

"Please… win…" Fria breathed her last as she closed her eyes.

A bright blue power exploded out of the woman and soared towards the younger sister.

Weiss gasped, feeling a new surge of power. It felt as though it hit her so hard she almost fell over. She turned her head back to look towards Fria, tears threatening to fall.

Cinder shrieked in rage as she charged at them. All Weiss felt was power surging through her. As though somebody was guiding her hand, she slammed her palm against the floor. A barrier of ice sprouted from the tiles and surged upwards with a frightening amount of speed. The wall was created between herself, Winter, and Fria from Cinder.

Winter stared in shock. She was trained to become the next Winter Maiden, this was her choice, her destiny. But if this meant that they had a chance of winning, she couldn't help but accept it for now. She looked towards Weiss with worry. "Weiss…"

"Thank you… Fria…" Weiss closed her eyes calmly. She took a deep breath, then her eyes shot open, a glowing blue light radiating off them. "Alright Cinder…" She felt the power surging through her veins as she created an ice sword. She barely waved her hand and the wall smashed apart. "Let's finish this."

Ruby sighed into her hands as she slumped in her seat. Nora and Marrow were next to her as they explained the last time they saw Weiss. Harriet was up front, driving the airship around where Weiss was last seen.

"I'm not seeing anything, Marrow." She called from her seat.

"Yeah we'll just keep looking. Weiss was looking around this area." Marrow got up and pointed around the corner.

Ruby merely groaned into her hands as Ren placed a hand onto her shoulder to calm her down. Blake suggested that Weiss was probably running around looking for more people who may need help still. Yang had the map open on her scroll and marked off where they had searched and didn't see Weiss, frowning how there's hardly any area left to check. She hesitantly looked at Ruby.

Just before she could say anything, Ruby, Blake, and Yang's scrolls started beeping.

Ruby's head flung back and she dug for her scroll frantically. Marrow looked guilty, recognizing the tone of the beeping.

One function of their new scroll was that it informed them of how low their teammate's aura were. If it got to a certain level, it'll start beeping to notify their teammates as an S.O.S signal and start tracking their location.

"Harriet!" Marrow called.

"On it! Just give me the cords!" She called. Marrow grabbed Blake's scroll and sent the coordinates to the ship's tracking unit. Harriet began to floor it towards Atlas.

"How did Weiss get to Atlas? When did she even have time to get there?" Jaune questioned as he looked at Yang and Blake.

The Bumbleby duo looked at each other and looked at Ruby before looking back at Jaune.

"We can ask her ourselves once we get there." Yang huffed as she crossed her arms. She wanted to give Weiss a piece of her mind for making her sister worry like this.

Weiss grunted as she unleashed a flurry of jabs and slashes towards Cinder.

Cinder gritted her teeth as she match Weiss' sword, strike for strike. She looked up and grinned as she sent a blast towards the ceiling.

Weiss summoned her knight to block the debris and willed it to watch over Winter.

"You're wasting energy. I like that. It'll make it easier for me to kill you." Cinder sneered as she flipped her spear.

"Weiss! I'll be fine, concentrate on yourself!" Winter looked at Fria's body. She silently put a hand on her forehead as a goodbye, sighing to herself as she moved to join the fight but winced when she put too much pressure on her leg.

In the shadows, Neo was watching the battle. She saw that Winter wanted to fight but couldn't move from her spot. She turned towards Cinder and Weiss, smiling to herself as she saw how tired Cinder was getting.

Neo concentrated, shifting her appearance to look like Ruby and jumped into the fight. She knew she needed to keep up an act, so she pretended to look shocked as she sprinted into the room and so she ran towards Winter.

"R-Ruby? What are you doing here?" Winter was shocked to see the young leader, and wondered how she even found them.

Neo was about to speak, or pretend that she was about to speak, but she stopped when she got the reaction she wanted.

"Ruby? Here? Damn it, what was Neo doing?!" Cinder cursed as she felt a surge of rage. She furiously butted Weiss with the hilt of her sword and flew towards 'Ruby' and Winter.

Weiss panted, feeling exhausted from using the Winter Maiden's power for the first time and fighting for such a long time. Seeing 'Ruby' in danger brought along images of her on the floor, bleeding, and it was her fault for not protecting her.

A rush of adrenaline spiked through her veins. Weiss lunged forward to get in Cinder's path, blocking Cinder's sword. "Not this time!"

"Get out of my way, unless you want to die again!" Cinder growled at Weiss.

Neo looked at Winter with a small nod and snuck around the fighting duo in front of them. Once she got into place, Cinder knocked Weiss back and realized that 'Ruby' was missing. The radiating power around her eyes exploded with her rage, but both quickly died out as she felt something stabbing through her. Her eyes widened.

She gasped and choked as she looked back and saw 'Ruby' grinning. For a split second, her eyes changed from silver to pink and brown before changing back to silver.

Cinder couldn't believe it as she felt Neo's weapon pulling out of her. "Ne…o… you…" She choked as she fell to the ground.

Neo closed her eyes as she felt the Fall Maiden's powers surging through her veins and slumped. She was exhausted after killing Cinder and looked over towards Weiss and Winter.

Weiss panted heavily with Winter holding her up.

"We need to get you to a hos—" Winter started then looked out the window. "O-Oh no…"

"W-Winter? What's going on?" Weiss looked up with one eye, the blood making it hard for her to see out of her left eye.

"T-The mansion's on fire." Winter quickly pulled out her scroll to call for backup.

"W-What?!" Weiss looked up and indeed saw that the Schnee Manor was in flames. The faces of her mother and brother flashed through her mind. Acting quickly, she pushed away from her sister and stumbled to the window. She used a glyph to smash the glass and climbed onto the windowsill.

"Weiss! Wait! You can't!" Winter tried to stop her sister from using anymore power, but Winter fell to the floor once she put pressure on her injured leg. It was too late.

Using the last of her energy to summon a Queen Lancer, Weiss jumped onto it's back and sped towards the burning manor as quickly as she could.

"Damn it!" Winter got off her scroll and looked at Neo. "You're coming with me too!" She grabbed her arm.

They both looked at Fria and Cinder's body before running out of the room.

Weiss panted as she tried to concentrate on keeping the summon up as much as she could. The second she was near the ground outside the manor, she let go and it faded into dust. Shaking the dizziness she was feeling away, she ran towards the servants running out.

"What's going on?!" She demanded, hiding any signs of exhaustion.

"We don't know! We were working then suddenly manor was engulfed in flames!" A male servant yelled as he tried to run.

Weiss scanned the area then realized that two people were missing. "Where's my mother and Whitley?"

"W-We don't know." The male servant admitted, ashamed that they ran away first without looking for their masters'.

"It's fine! I'll go look for them! Make sure that you and the others are safe!" Weiss urged the servant to run away as she rushed towards the manor.

"Miss Schnee! Where do you think you're going?!" A female servant called for her, reaching to stop her from getting closer to the manor.

"Making sure that everyone is safe!" Weiss shrugged her hand off. "Have you seen my mother or Whitley?" She panted, feeling anxious that no one knew where her mother or brother were.

"I-I think they're still insi—Miss Schnee!" The female servant called to stop Weiss, but she ignored the servant and ran towards the burning manor, the doors collapsing right behind her.

Weiss covered her face with her hand as she ran deeper inside. She tried to navigate the manor, but with the ceilings falling and furniture topping over it was like a labyrinth. 'Ok, where are Whitley and mom?' She knew that she didn't have much time to search with how hot the flames were and all the exits were destroyed.

"Mom! Whitley!" She called and instantly regretted that choice when she inhaled the fumes. Weiss coughed violently and fell to her knees, berating herself for being so weak. She forced herself to get up to keep looking.

"W-Whitley…" A weak voice called.

"Mom?!" Weiss moved towards the voice and saw that Whitley was grunting in pain as he tried to push a burning debris off his legs and their mother not too far from him, being pinned down from the same burning debris.

"W-Weiss… save Whitley… save…" Willow groaned as she struggled to reach for Whitley.

"I'm not leaving you both behind!" Weiss growled, shaking as she closed her eyes and concentrated.

Weiss was out of aura, but she didn't care. She needed to get her mother and brother out. She needed to stop the fire. Taking a deep breath, she concentrated.

She's a huntress now. That means that she had to find a way to save civilians. Even if that meant…

With a fierce war cry, she spun in a circle and stabbed the ground with Myrtenaster. Cold air and ice flew from her as two knights came from the ground. When she reopened her eyes, the manor of fire became a manor of ice.

Weiss let out a small laugh in the moment, but swayed but stabbed the ground to steady herself. She needed to get Whitley and Willow out of here before she can find Ruby and Winter.

The ex-heiress willed the knights to lift the debris off her family. Not a minute later, someone called for her.

"Weiss!" Winter ran towards her younger sister with Neo, still disguised as Ruby, by her side.

"Winter, Ruby…" Weiss smiled as them as her summons faded into dust after moving the rest of the debris away. "I'm… ba…ck…"

Neo lunged forward and caught Weiss as she collapsed and looked at Winter.

"The airship to the hospital will be here any second." Winter frowned as she looked at the frozen manor then towards Weiss. "You pushed yourself too hard…"

"Hey, isn't that…" Jaune saw the smoke and stood up.

Ruby rushed towards the head of the ship and saw that the Schnee Manor was bursting into flames.

"No no no!" Ruby ran towards the door of the airship and pulled it open.

"Hey, kid! We're not-" Harriet shouted but Ruby didn't listen.

Ruby already jumped out of the airship and used her semblance to rush towards the manor. Just as she got there, the burning manor was covered in ice. She looked around for a moment then saw who she was looking for.

The young leader jumped onto the airship when she saw that Weiss was being loaded into one.

"Woah, hey! Kid, this is an-" The paramedics was surprised to see Ruby just suddenly appear out of nowhere.

"No, it's fine." Winter stopped them. "This is my sister's partner. We need to rush to the hospital. Quickly!"

The paramedics sighed as they secured Weiss' bed on the airship and moved towards the driver's seat, starting to drive off.

"What happened?" Ruby demanded as she looked at Weiss' form.

Weiss looked like she was having trouble breathing, her nose was bleeding, as well as several other places on her body. The dark red was stark against her pale skin and it worried Ruby more than anything.

"W-Weiss…" Ruby reached for Weiss' hand but stopped. Did she deserve to touch her now? After all this time? It's been weeks since they last talked. And hours before, the only thing that they really talked was talking Weiss into snooping around her home for proof that Jacques was working with Salem's men.

Ruby sank down into a seat and stared at Weiss. She was relieved that Weiss was breathing, but guilty that she hasn't been there for her when she promised her that she would've been.

"Ruby, it'll be best that you rest." Winter advised. She didn't know if Weiss would make it. Her aura broke in their fight with Cinder, then there's the fact that Weiss forced more power than she had left in her to freeze the manor to stop the flames.

The older Schnee sat next to Ruby, watching as the paramedics giving Weiss blood and aura supplements while treating her wounds as best as they could before they arrived at the hospital.

"I'll rest once I know that Weiss will be fine…" Ruby mumbled as she stared at Weiss. She left her before. There's no way that she'll leave her again.

Yang jumped out of the airship and rushed into the hospital once she received a message from Winter saying that Ruby was with her. Blake quickly ran after her.

Seeing the Schnee Manor up in flames one second then frozen over gave her a sinking feeling in her gut. That feeling grew worse when she barely caught sight of Ruby running into another airship just before it took off.

Now that she was in the hospital, she saw Ruby slumped back in her seat, her face covered with her hands just outside of the OR. It was years since she saw her like this. Was there anything she can do?

"Ruby!" Yang called out as she approached her sister and knelt down, placing her hand on her shoulder. "Hey, what's going on?" She mentally slapped herself. Part of her knew what was going on, but she just didn't want to believe it.

"Y-Yang…?" Ruby looked up, struggling not to cry. "W-Weiss… she…"

"Weiss?" Yang frowned then turned towards the OR. Ruby's admission confirmed her suspicions. Last she checked, Weiss was low aura as they were looking for her then suddenly she's here? That could only mean one thing. "Hey, she's gonna make it."

"W-Will she?" Ruby covered her face with her hands. "She was covered in wounds… Her aura was depleted. It didn't sound good when she went in." She whimpered into her hands.

"Ruby." Blake finally spoke up and sat next to the young leader. "Weiss is strong and stubborn. You of all people know that." She placed a hand onto her shoulder to comfort her. "She'll be fine."

"Yeah. We've never seen anyone more stubborn than Weiss." Yang smiled at Ruby then winked. "Well other than you. You two are a match."

"Right…" Ruby slowly pulled her hands away and looked at the door.

"You should get some sleep. It might take a while for her to get out. We'll wake you when she's out." Blake suggested.

"No… I haven't been by her side when she needed me. I need to be here when she gets out." Ruby stated stubbornly and stared at the door.

Yang and Blake looked at each other, sighing as they sat by Ruby's side, rubbing her side.

Slowly, Jaune, Nora, and Ren came up towards them. They saw how Ruby stared at the OR and looked at each other before leaving to grab some food.

Down the hall, Winter stopped the Ace-Ops, informing them of the new Maidens and saying that the Fall Maiden should be watched at all times before walking towards Ruby.

"She'll be there for a few hours. You should go back to the dorms and wash up before returning." Winter frowned.

"I'm staying here until Weiss gets out of there and wakes up. I need to see that she'll be fine with my own eyes!" Ruby shook as she clenched her skirt.

Winter looked at Yang and Blake for help, but they just shook their heads. With a heavy sigh, she sat away from them. "I guess we should get comfortable here."

After six tiresome, anxious hours, Weiss was finally out of the OR and wheeled into her own private room. Ruby quickly followed after them, waking Yang and Blake in the process. Winter saw how worried Ruby looked and sighed as she followed after them.

"She's out of danger, though her aura needs time to replenish." The doctor read the file to Winter. "When she'll wake up… that'll be up to her. She was extremely exhausted but most of her wounds are healed now. I suspect she'll be out for a few days. We'll come check on her every six hours in case there's a change."

"Thank you, doctor." Winter nodded as she moved towards the bed. "Weiss won't be waking up any time soon." She told the group, mostly towards Ruby. "We should all get some rest." The older Schnee sighed. "…Ruby, there's a visitor's bed on the other side of the room. You should get some rest. Weiss wouldn't be happy to see you exhausting yourself for her sake."

"I already told you…" Ruby's eyes never left Weiss. "I'll rest when Weiss wakes up."

It's my fault she's like this after all…

Whitley groaned as he stirred awake and looked around the white room. "W-Where…?"

"Whitley, are you awake now?" Winter frowned as she watched him from the foot of the bed.

She couldn't believe it when she saw the mansion on fire. She couldn't believe that she didn't move when she saw Weiss trying to pull out Whitley and Willow out of the burning mansion. By the time everything processed, Weiss had used her Winter Maiden powers to put out the fire. Not even a second passed before the ex-heiress passed out and collapsed onto the floor.

Neo had caught Weiss just before she hit the cold ground and Winter immediately called for an airship to go to the hospital.

It was two days since that happened and now Whitley was awake to explain things. Hopefully.

"Winter… why are you here?" Whitley barely looked up at his older sister before looking away.

"Strange as this sounds, you're my younger brother. I'm here to see if you're alright." Winter stated stiffly.

"You certainly never cared before," Whitely scoffed. His voice was scratchy. "Why now? Especially when father…" He gripped the bed sheets tightly.

Winter sighed as she folded her hands behind her back. She knew that this would be difficult, but if she could talk to Weiss, she could talk to Whitley and maybe Willow… when she wakes up.

"Weiss was injured trying to help both you and mother." Winter started and saw how Whitley flinched. "She's still unconscious at the moment, but she didn't hesitate to help you." She sighed as she stepped closer towards Whitley. "She made me realize that… one shouldn't hesitate to help a family in need." The military officer took a seat next to the bed. "Even when said family member is a pain in the ass."

Whitley looked at Winter in the eyes, unsure if he could believe her. How many years has it been since he looked into anyone's eyes and they reflected concern. For him. Not hard cold eyes that he was used to for years. Could he even trust her? There's no way.

"…I have no reason to believe you."

"Of course you don't." Winter sighed. It was never easy with this family. She stood up and moved towards the door to call the doctor to check on him. "But… you could believe, Weiss. If I recall correctly, she never gave up on us. So… don't give up on her."

Whitley couldn't believe her. There was no way that anyone would save him. At least not Weiss. She left him. She took everything away from him. Weiss never tried to help him.

He held his head in pain, knowing that what he was thinking wasn't true. He clutched his shirt over his heart, unsure of why his chest stung at the thought of Weiss trying to help him.

"Weiss…" Whitley mumbled, tears stinging his eyes.

He knew that Weiss did try before. He saw it. She always tried.

How Weiss tried to talk to their father about the business, but only received slaps on the face for questioning him.

How Weiss tried to talk to their mother to stop drinking, but only was ignored and had bottles hurled at her.

How Weiss tried to talk to him whenever he felt bad, but he pushed her away because he was scared of being punished by Jacques if he found out.

Whitley's thoughts were broken at the sound of a knock and a doctor walking into the room. "Hello, Mr. Schnee. How are you feeling?"

"Fine." He answered curtly.

'Should I trust Winter and Weiss…? But I've made such a terrible mistake… Weiss helped me now… will she still help?'

Whitley looked up at the doctor. "…Is Winter still here?"

Winter's eyes widened as she stared at Whitley. She couldn't believe what she just heard. The past few hours that she left the mansion to watch over Fria. Then the fight with Cinder and Neo. Whitley broke down and she wasn't there to help?

"Why…?"

Whitley covered his face with his hands. "I-I don't know. I couldn't take it anymore and just… it just happened. After father was taken away, everything that happened was a blur."

"You set the mansion on fire. How could you just forget that?" Winter glared at him then remembered Weiss' condition. "How are you going to take responsibility for Weiss? For mother?"

"I didn't ask for their help!" Whitley looked back up at Winter with a fearful look. He started feeling choked up. "I… She… I just wanted all this pain to end!"

Winter felt rage surging through her veins and was about to snap but then stopped when Weiss' face flashed in her mind. She took a step back and took a deep breath to calm down.

"Whitley. Father is gone now. We don't have to live under his watch anymore. We're free. And that means…" She looked at her brother. "… That means we can be there for each other again. If you would like to."

"I-I…" Whitley hesitated and leaned back onto the bed. "I need more time…"

"I understand." Winter nodded. "I do hope that you'll go see Weiss once she's awake."

Winter steeled herself as she walked into Weiss' room. She frowned at the familiar sight of Ruby sitting by Weiss' bed, holding her hand and hoping that she would wake up soon.

It's been a week since the attack and Weiss' eyes were open. Every day was hard for Winter to see her younger sister like this, but she knew that it was even harder on Ruby.

The news that she found out… she knew that it wouldn't be easier on them, but she had to tell the young leader.

"Ruby…" Winter started as she folded her hands behind her back.

Ruby looked up wearily to see who called her name, gave Winter an acknowledged nod before looking back towards Weiss.

Winter sighed. "Ruby, please look at me. I have some things I need to tell you."

"Weiss might wake up. I'm not leaving her." Ruby stated, her gaze never leaving Weiss' form as she held onto her hand. "Whatever you have to tell me, just say it."

"I wasn't going to tell you to leave her side, but I need you to look at me as I apologize." Winter waited for Ruby to look at her.

"Apologize?" Ruby repeated, unsure of where Winter was going with this. "Weiss being here was my fau-"

"No, the fault is mine. As well as Whitley's." Winter gave Ruby an apologetic look.

Ruby frowned. "What do you mean?" Why would it be Winter and Whitley's fault that Weiss was in the hospital?

"When Weiss came to help me protect the Winter Maiden, she suggested that I fight Cinder Fall while she protected Fria." Winter sighed. "I told her to fight Cinder instead while I watched Fira. She constantly made sure that we were alright. I was nothing but a distraction to her."

"That sounds like Weiss… always worrying about her family..." Ruby gave a weak smile as she looked at Weiss then back towards Winter. "Why is this your fault though? Or Whitley's?"

"Apparently, she…" Winter took a deep breath. "She was burnt. Whitley set the mansion on fire. He admitted it to me when he woke up. He… in a fit of rage, he destroyed many things within the mansion. Weiss, even though her aura was depleted, froze the manor to stop the flames."

Ruby stood up and clenched her fists. "You're telling me, that Weiss wouldn't be as injured if it weren't for your dumb brother? That if she was watching over the Winter Maiden rather than fight Cinder?"

"That… is correct." Winter was caught off guard. Over the past few weeks that she's gotten to know Weiss' friends and teammates, Ruby had rarely shown any signs of anger. And she knew the smallest signs of anger thanks to her father.

Winter could see that the young woman was livid in her stance. How she clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.

"Ruby, Weiss will be fi-"

"Will she really?" Ruby glared at Winter.

Why was it always her family that hurts her?

"She's strong." Winter stood her ground. "I believe that we both know Weiss, and we both know that she'll never give up."

"But even the strongest get tired and need rest." Ruby looked at Weiss and sunk back into the chair. She covered her face into her hands and sighed deeply into them.

Was it really worth getting angry now? It was probably best to wait for Weiss. Nothing was going to change. But there was one thing for certain right now.

"Winter… please leave. I really want to punch you, but Weiss would be sad if I did." Ruby let out a shaky breath as she tried to compose herself. "You're practically the only family member she cares about." She didn't dare meet Winter's gaze, knowing that if she did, she would lose what self control she had.

"And Klein." Winter sighed, understanding what Ruby meant. She couldn't blame her though. "Ruby." The elder Schnee turned to leave, looking over her shoulder. "Take care of Weiss… and yourself."

Ruby just sighed deeply and nodded, holding Weiss' hand tighter.

Winter sighed as she leaned back onto the wall and closed her eyes.

"Winter?" Yang tentatively walked close to her.

"Yang? To what do I owe the pleasure?" Winter looked back at the brawler, unsure of what she wanted.

Yang scratched the back of her head as she approached the elder Schnee. "Are you ok? I mean with Weiss being in the hospital, of course you're not." She sighed, knowing how Ruby felt and shook her head. "What I mean is, is there anything that I can do? From one elder sibling to another?"

"Sadly, there isn't anything that you can do. This is a family problem." Winter grunted as she shook her head.

"And you can talk to me about it. Weiss is like a sister to me. You're her sister so therefore, my sister as well." Yang grinned, hoping to get through to her. "…Unless something happened to Ruby to make her hate you, then we might have a problem."

Winter sighed as she frowned, looking away.

"Wait… did you really make Ruby angry with you?" Yang was surprised. It was rare for Ruby to be upset with anyone and she was joking with her.

"She told me to leave." Winter looked up at Yang. "I went to apologize after finding out more about Weiss' injuries." She sighed and shook her head.

Yang placed a hand onto Winter's shoulder and helped her to a seat, sitting next to her. "What happened to Weiss? If you're ok with sharing it."

"Whitley set the mansion on fire in a fit of rage and stress, after father was arrested." Winter folded her hands together. "Weiss went to save him and mother after she came to help me with Fria." She frowned and hung her head low. "She told me to fight Cinder while she protected the Winter Maiden. However… I suggested… no, told her to fight Cinder while I protected Fria. Her aura was depleted during that fight. I noticed that the manor was burning and Weiss broke the window, summoned a Queen Lancer and flew towards the manor as quickly as she could. I don't know how, but she froze the entire manor to stop the flames."

"Then she…?" Yang's eyes' widened.

"She collapsed because of it." Winter admitted.

Yang stared at Winter, looking for signs that she was lying. She sighed. The only Schnee that she knew of, that was capable of lying was Jacques. The brawler may not have known Winter for as long as Weiss, but in the little time that they've spent together, Yang knew that Winter could lie as much as Weiss. They only lied about their mental health, nothing else.

"Are you… guilty?" Yang bit her lip, unsure of how to really go about this.

"I just… feel that I failed as an older sister." Winter sighed. She never really had a good bond with Whitley before and now Weiss was in the hospital because of her. If she was stronger and knew how to be there for her younger siblings when they needed her…

"Hey." Yang placed a hand onto her shoulder. "It's hard being an older sister. I understand. Sometimes… Ruby seems like she grew up so fast, I don't know what to do with her. In the end, she's still my little sister."

"This is supposed to help me… how?" Winter raised a brow.

"Just sayin' that if you need someone to talk to, I'll be willin' to listen." Yang patted her shoulder. "Just don't give up on your siblings. Things will turn out fine. In the meantime…" She smiled. "Let's get our minds off our little sisters and have a drink. All of this worrying isn't good for you."

Winter frowned. "I can't leave Weiss here."

"But you said that Ruby kicked you out." Yang shook her head. "Just wait for a bit. Let her cool off and once Weiss is awake, let them talk it out. It'll be fine."

"If you say so." Winter gave a weak smile. "But no alcohol. We're still Huntresses. Or rather, you are. Which means that we could still be called to Mantle and deal with the mess that's left."

"Alright, fine. Sheesh… you and Weiss are the same in that regard." Yang flinched at what she said then looked at Winter. "But that would mean that she'll make it out. Now let's go."

"I hope that you're right…" Winter sighed as she looked at Weiss' room then followed after Yang.

"Hey, Ruby…" Yang placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. It was hard seeing her like this. The last time Yang saw her like this was back when Beacon fell and she was depressed over losing her arm and rejected Ruby who was trying to help her.

"Go away, Yang…" Ruby continued to watch Weiss, not looking at anyone or anything else. She was berating herself for allowing this to happen.

"Not until you eat or drink something. An apple. Protein shake. Some milk." Yang rubbed Ruby's back then looked at the bed to see Weiss' sleeping form. 'At least it seems that Weiss is breathing better than earlier.'

Ruby stood up when Weiss shifted in her sleep. Moments later, the ex-heiress still didn't open her eyes and Ruby sunk back down with a heavy sigh.

"You can't keep doing this, Ruby. She'll wake up soon." Yang sighed, tired of seeing the light and hope that she had before being replaced with despair.

It's been a month since Weiss was admitted to the hospital and Ruby had rarely left her side. The only times Ruby left Weiss' side was by force from Yang and Blake to eat, drink, shower, and have a few minutes of sunshine. The very second that her time was up, Ruby sped away with her semblance to go back to Weiss' side in case she woke up.

"Weiss…" Ruby whimpered as she sat back to her chair and took her partner's hand. "Wake up… please… I'm sorry…"

"Ruby, please…" Yang tried again. "I know that you love her…" Ruby flinched at that. "And she loves you too. I know how it feels to need to be by your partner's side when they're hurt. But when she wakes up and see how you are right now? It'll hurt her to see you like this. You need to rest."

"I… does she really?" Ruby slowly turned to Yang.

Yang nodded slowly as she pulled Ruby into a hug. "She's been in love with you for a long time. I have eyes. You're both so… selfless. You're always so focused on everybody else that it's like you two thought you didn't have time for your own feelings." She sighed as she rubbed her younger sister's back. "You two… need to take a break from the real world. Be true to yourselves."

"I-I'm scared, Yang." Ruby sniffed, trembling within her sister's arms. "What if she doesn't? I-I don't think I can live with that. Please just… don't give me that kind of hope. I just want her to wake up."

"Ruby, you know that you both can't keep doing this. You both deserve some happiness. Find it with Weiss. I don't want you two to keep putting others before yourself."

Ruby sighed as she pushed away from Yang's embrace. "I… I'll think about it…"

"Remember what I said…"

Wednesday morning, 2 AM

Weiss groaned as she slowly opens her eyes. Her body ached and she felt drained. Everything was blurry but she heard someone calling her name.

She blinked a few times to get the fuzziness out of her eyes. Once everything was cleared, she saw that she was on a bed. A hospital bed and there was a warm hand holding her own.

Slowly, Weiss turned towards her hand and followed the source. There she saw Ruby looking at her with concerned, watery eyes before feeling her body weight on top of her.

"R-Ru…by…?"

"Weiss! Thank Oum, you're awake!" Ruby sobbed onto her shoulder.

Weiss was confused but smiled, nuzzling against Ruby's head as she closed her eyes. "Of course… I promised… to take care… of… you…" She sighed and weakly wrapped her arm around Ruby.

"S-Shhh… don't talk. Save your voice. I'll go get you some water." Ruby kissed Weiss' forehead and caressed her cheek. She frowned seeing Weiss close her eyes again. "W-Weiss?"

"Tired…" Weiss mumbled as she drifted back to sleep.

"W-Weiss!" Ruby whimpered as she snuggled close to her partner, resting her head onto her shoulder while being careful not to pull any cords and wires. "Please… don't leave me…" Ruby sighed as she closed her eyes, glad to know that Weiss was feeling a bit better now.

The next morning, Yang walked into the room with Blake. They were going to drag Ruby out of the room again to get some fresh air. Their plans came to a stop when they saw Ruby snuggling close to Weiss in her sleep and Weiss awake as she gave her a fond smile with her arm around the young leader.

Weiss noticed someone looking at her and turned towards the door, weakly doing a 'shushing' motion so that Ruby could sleep.

Snapping out of their shock, Yang and Blake moved towards the bed and grabbed a cup of water, offering it to Weiss.

Weiss gratefully accepted the offer and moved slowly, trying not to wake Ruby or make a mess in the process. She coughed after drinking too fast and Blake was by her side, rubbing her shoulder.

"Weiss… I can't believe that you're awake." Blake breathed and sat next to the bed.

"Yeah, when the doc said that they didn't know when you'd wake up if ever… we just assumed the worst." Yang sat on the chair and looked at Ruby. "I guess you can already assume, but yeah… she hardly left your side since you came to the hospital. She was freaking out pretty badly when she saw you being loaded onto the airship to come here."

Weiss looked down at Ruby with a frown and sighed, keeping her close. "She should rest…"

"That's what we've been telling her, but she never listened to us. We had to drag her out every time just to get like an hour of sunshine, shower, and stuff food and drinks down her throat before she came back here, watching you sleep." Yang sighed as she shook her head.

"She did sleep from time to time, but she only slept on the couch over there." Blake looked at the small couch on the other side of the room. "Weiss… what happened? Nora and Marrow said that you went MIA."

"She went to assist me with a fight." Winter admitted guiltily as she walked into the room with Qrow and Ironwood in tow. "I was injured and Weiss advised me to call for backup as I protected Fria, the previous Winter Maiden." She sighed as she looked at Weiss. "We are now looking at the new Winter Maiden."

Yang looked at Winter then at Weiss then back towards Winter. "W-Wait. This is all too much to take in. What fight happened?"

"Cinder Fall is no more." Ironwood took a step forward and sighed heavily. "Which means the new Fall Maiden, is Neopolitan. I believe you're all familiar with her."

"Wait… what?!" Yang shouted, causing Ruby to whimper and stir awake.

Weiss glared at Yang and rubbed Ruby's back, trying to coax her back into sleep but failed once those beautiful silver eyes opened.

"Weiss…?"

"I'm here. Good morning, Ruby." Weiss smiled at her.

"It wasn't a dream." Ruby smiled and nuzzled against Weiss, oblivious to everyone in the room until she heard Ironwood coughing.

"Ms. Rose, I'm glad to see that you're better as well a Ms. Schnee, but we have some important matters to discuss right now."

"R-Right." Ruby blushed as she stayed where she was, holding onto Weiss. "W-Was there any problems with Weiss?"

Winter sighed as she looked at both Ironwood and Qrow while Yang and Blake looked at each other. Ruby didn't like how they were all dancing around her.

"What's wrong with Weiss?" Ruby panicked and looked at her partner. "Y-You're gonna be fine… right?"

Weiss sit up as much as she could with Ruby's help and reached for her hand. "I'll be fine as long as you're safe."

"W-Wait… what…?" Ruby didn't like the sound of that.

"Ruby, Weiss is the new Winter Maiden." Yang frowned as she moved close to Ruby and placed a hand onto her shoulder.

Ruby looked at Yang then back at Weiss who nodded slowly. She was confused. On one hand, they could easily keep an eye on the Maiden, but on the other hand… she was worried about how this would affect Weiss.

Now that she thought about it, she rarely checked in with Weiss these past few weeks. There was so many things going on and Winter was here so she thought that Weiss would be fine.

What kind of partner was she for practically ignoring how Weiss felt?

"Ruby?" Weiss frowned, knowing what her partner was thinking and nudged her head against Ruby's. "I'm fine. I promise."

"Weiss…" Ruby whined. This was so much to take in.

Winter telling her that the reason that Weiss collapsed was because of her and Whitley, now she's the new Winter Maiden?

"Ruby, being a Schnee meant that I had a target painted against my back by the White Fang since I was a child. Being the Winter Maiden doesn't chan-"

"It changes everything, Weiss!" Ruby looked at her partner in the eyes. "Salem's dangerous. We all know this! I don't…" She whimpered as she buried her head onto Weiss' shoulder. "I can't lose you…"

Weiss looked at Ruby then looked at the others. They nodded in understanding and left the room. Once they were alone, Weiss nudged her head with her own.

"Hey… Ruby." Weiss waited for Ruby to look up at her before continuing. "I know that this is a lot to take in after everything that happened, but this doesn't change what happened between us. We'll be fine."

"Will we really be fine?" Ruby sniffed, not wanting to risk any more of her friend's lives.

"You always have a plan. And I'm always here to be the best partner that you ever have." Weiss took Ruby's hand into her own and kissed it as a promise.

Ruby smiled, taking her hand and kissed it back. "You'll be the only partner that I'll ever have."

Weiss giggled, causing Ruby's heart to flutter. She missed that sound.

"Sounds like you're asking me out." Weiss smiled as she looked at Ruby.

Ruby blushed as she was asked. She leaned close to Weiss. "What if I am…?"

Now was Weiss' turn to blush. "You'll have to ask me properly before I can answer you."

"W-Well then…" Ruby was nervous about this and took a deep breath. "Weiss Schnee… My BFF and bestest partner in the world… will you be my girlfriend?" Her hand shook as she took Weiss' hand into her own.

Weiss smiled and squeezed Ruby's hand, leaning close until their lips connected. They stayed like that for a moment then Weiss pulled back with a bright blush on her face.

Ruby stared at Weiss for a moment, unsure if this was reality or a dream.

"Dolt. Remnant to my dolt. Are you still there?" Weiss was worried that she broke Ruby.

"Y-Yes?" Ruby squeaked in a pitch higher than usual then blinked. "W-Wait… y-your dolt?"

"W-Was my kiss an insufficient answer…?" Weiss bit her lip, unsure if she did something wrong.

"N-No! I just uh… c-can I have another one?" Ruby blushed shyly as she asked that.

"As much as you want." Weiss smiled as she pulled Ruby in for another kiss.

Ruby silently cheered. Everything would be all right. As long as Weiss was by her side, everything will be fine.

A/N: This is what happens when I bounce angst ideas with a friend off discord. Thanks LieutBrook for the idea and helping me write this~! Hope that y'all enjoyed! See y'all next time!