Winter's stare lingered upon Weiss for a short moment longer before mercifully returning to Blake. The two sisters had virtually no contact with each other since Winter handed off the role of heiress to the younger sister. This was the first time they've seen each other in over 5 years.

"What are the chances?! Remain calm Weiss…I think she's playing along. I just need to make sure I don't say anything to reveal myself." The two women hadn't been very close by the very nature of their upbringing, but Weiss couldn't help but look up to her older sister. Unfortunately, once Winter joined the military, she became persona non grata at the Schnee Mansion.

"I'm surprised you're taking this so well, Ms. Belladonna," Winter revealed, taking in the appearance of the Menagerian Chieftain's daughter. "My family is hardly a friend of the faunus."

Blake returned Winter's gaze impassively. "Last I heard, you had separated yourself from the legacy of your family. My dad has talked about you a few times and said you were a good person." Blake turned to Yang, "And I trust Yang's judgement."

The exchange was interrupted by the waitress, who took the group's drink orders – milk, vitamin water, green tea, and two glasses of iced water. Blake glanced at Weiss as she ordered her drink, taking in her appearance – fidgety, avoiding eye contact, and sweating slightly; Blake could even hear Weiss' thundering heartbeat and smell the stress coming off of her. "What is going on with her?" Blake wondered.

Winter's eyes tracked the waitress until her fox tail disappeared through the kitchen doors before continuing. "I appreciate your understanding. Your parents are wonderful people, they're doing so much for faunus equality. I – and my sister for that matter – never really bought into our father's racism," Winter explained, calmly folding her hands together on the table. "I suppose there is just something about the men in the family…"

Weiss shifted uncomfortably at the mention of herself. "So she has been paying attention to the family…I'm surprised she heard anything about Whitley at all – father was very thorough in the cover up."

"Your sister? From what I've seen, she's been following in your father's slimy footsteps. Only good thing I've heard about her is at least she's not sexually harassing the maids like your brother."

"Oh…I guess word got out somehow…"

Winter shook her head. "I'm sure it seems like she's obedient to father's wishes, but she and I each have our own way of subverting our father's will. You know, when she was young, she went behind father's back and refused to let any of the staff attend to her. So when the maids were supposed to be cleaning her room or helping her get dressed, they'd just relax on her couch. She insisted they call her 'Weiss' too."

Blake did not break eye contact with Winter while the waitress quickly slipped each person their drink. "So she doesn't like having people do things for her – I'm more concerned about her perpetuating support of discrimination, slavery, and violence toward faunus people."

"It's simply one of the many ways that Weiss defies father's control. Be careful with what you assume about her. Jacques takes every chance he has to make his position on faunus clear, but I doubt you've heard Weiss say a single negative thing about your people, nor has she ever instituted a policy for the SDC that wasn't an improvement for the faunus – something unheard of in Atlas." Winter tilted her head thoughtfully. "In fact, she may be more pro-faunus than I ever thought…" She smiled slightly, taking a short sip from her glass of water. "It's a careful line she needs to walk to prevent the company from falling into the hands of Whitley."

"I don't think faunus have the luxury of hoping that your sister is a secret advocate for us. We can't just assume that she is standing up for us…not with Jacques Schnee there. We get burned all the time by people who just want to seem like they support the faunus, but when it comes down to it they don't do a single thing for us."

Weiss squirmed in her seat. "M-maybe I-I should come clean…Blake would want me to be honest! …but what if they tell someone? I can't have everyone knowing that I'm here! The Schnee heiress traipsing around an anime convention, wearing fox ears…I'd be lucky if father doesn't try to poison me. But there's no way I can continue like this without her knowing…"

Yang cleared her throat to get everyone's attention, inclining her head toward the sushi. "Soooo shall we start eating?"

Reminded that there was sushi around, Blake's ears perked, her head whipping around. Weiss managed to duck under Blake, who practically jumped over her to grab a plate of maguro sashimi. "So, how did the two of you meet?" Weiss asked, secretly enjoying Blake's warmth again.

Ruby and Yang turned into a blur of arms and colored plates and with Blake busy drooling over her plates of fish, Winter was able to shoot Weiss a withering look unnoticed by the others. Yang gave her exasperated girlfriend a huge grin, silently asking permission to tell the story.

"So we were having a big summer beach party on Patch. Dad and Uncle Qrow thought if we had a big fun party we could help keep the Grimm away from the island – but I think that was just an excuse to convince people to come." Yang paused to stuff a huge fried tempura roll into her mouth. "Mmhrh thrrr Winmmh-" Winter cut her girlfriend off with a swat on the leg.

"Please Yang, for the love of dust…"

"Srrhhy"

"Qrow harassed me for a whole week before managing to somehow get General Ironwood on his side. He ordered me to attend with him."

"So Ruby and I were horsing around on the beach when she and General Ironwood arrived. I was carrying Ruby over my head, wearing my yellow bikini – I've showed you pictures, Lily." Weiss choked on her drink, lapsing into a coughing fit.

"Yes, you did send me pictures, you brute," she said stiffly, crossing her arms over her chest. "It's just not fair… Maybe I should start massaging them again, I heard that helps. Even Winter has bigger ones…"

Yang giggled, "She couldn't resist this hotness – she was staring so hard she walked straight into a trashcan and totally ate it! General Ironwood said he had never seen Winter so flustered. Ya know, she gets flustered just like you do Lily!" Weiss laughed nervously, Winter facepalmed. "We got to talking around the bonfire that night and before we knew it, we were in my bedroom f-"

"YANG."

Yang looked at Winter, clearly weighing the consequences of her next action. "Uhh. Well. Uncle Qrow caught her leaving my room the following morning…he couldn't believe his eyes! We ended up dating; we've been together for two years now."

"And you managed to hide it from us," Blake grumbled. She set her chopsticks down and exhaled slowly. "Was it only because of me that you didn't say anything?"

"Yes…I'm sorry, Ms. Belladonna. I feared what your reaction would be, so I asked Yang to keep our relationship confidential."

She sighed slightly, scratching behind one fur-covered ear. "I wish you hadn't worried; I'm not so quick to judge simply because I'm an activist."

Winter nodded shortly at Blake. Looking past her, Winter could see her sister staring intently at Blake's ear. It had been 20 years since she heard Weiss squeal about cute things, but Winter could see it clearly in her eyes. "So Lily. You're the only person at the table that I know nothing about. Why don't you tell me about yourself?"

Weiss blinked in surprise, clearly uncomfortable that the conversation had somehow landed on her. "Well, I initially met Blake online…through Remblr. She has this amazing yuri blog and I love her fan art. Eventually, I guess she decided to message the weirdo that reblogged every single post she made." She paused to take a few bites of food – a beef udon she ordered off the menu. "Outside of that, I'm in an online correspondence school for business."

"I see." Winter had finally started in on her food, which Yang had passed her without a word – apparently she knew her girlfriend's tastes that well.

"I remember she was super clueless about the faunus; Blake spent hours talking to her about it. Living in Atlas must be wild – what a backwards place. Lily knows a lot about faunus culture now, especially the mating customs!" Yang suggestively waggled her eyebrows across the table at Blake and Weiss, before being hit square on the nose by a shoyu packet. "Aw Lily, don't be like that!"

Ruby giggled and snatched up the little red packet, dumping it over some wasabi. "Are you interested in Faunus culture at all, Winter? Have the two of you watched any anime together?"

"Well…I've only watched a few shows with Yang, but I've enjoyed what I've seen. I must say I like the shows with male Schnee villains. They're not exaggerated much from the kind of person father actually is."

"I was sure to show her all the basics and yuri staples. We also set up a few cosplays for her this weekend! If she lets her hair down she's a perfect Shizuma!" Yang's grin turned lewd before she announced, "Sometimes I call her Shizuma-sama when we're doing it."

The sound of Weiss' pained 'ewwwww' and Ruby's retching noises covered Winter's distressed squawk while she covered her bright red face with her hands. After a moment to compose herself, Winter responded simply, "No more nookie. And no more cuddles."

Yang's face paled. "N-no please be reasonable! I'm sorry! I can't survive without hugs!"

While Yang begged Winter for leniency, Blake turned to chat with Weiss. "Are you enjoying the sushi Lily? This is your first time having this kind of food right?"

"Yeah! I've been trying a little of everything…except the raw stuff. I'm a little scared of it…"

"There's nothing to worry about, it's perfectly safe. This is a good restaurant with clean and safe fish – your stomach acid will handle the rest. Here." Blake picked up one of her remaining maguro sushi with her chopsticks and dipped it in shoyu. "Say 'ahh'."

"Oh my god am I dreaming right now hhghhgn." Trying to remain calm and collected, she leaned forward slightly and allowed Blake to place the proffered bit of food into her mouth. Realizing she was staring deeply into Blake's eyes, she quickly looked away, chewing and swallowing the unfamiliar dish. "That…was really good! The texture isn't what I expected."

Blake smiled widely. "I'm glad you like it! I have lots of food I need to show you."

"Would you mind picking out a few things for me?" This certainly wasn't Weiss trying to get Blake to lean against her again. "Definitely not," she thought as Blake pressed up against her to point out dishes for her to grab. "Weiss Schnee has more class than that."

Half an hour later with her appetite for fish sated, Blake's focus returned to the conversation going on at the table. Meeting Winter Schnee was not something she was expecting to happen, but the woman seemed nice enough. Blake trusted Yang's judgement; the two had known each other for a long time – even since before she met Lily. Winter's fit form, her sharp looks, and the slight cracks in her serious façade – it was easy to see why Yang liked her. The two were good for each other.

Blake glanced at Lily out of the corner of her eye, admiring the cute smol lesbian. She seemed to be more at ease, but had largely remained silent throughout the meal. Her thoughts drifted to last night, seeing Lily dressed up – her beautiful dress, soft hands, intoxicating scent, her clear blue eyes…..and white hair….

On further examination, there were a lot of similarities between Winter and Lily. A few searches on her scroll later, Blake had called up a number of pictures of the Schnee heiress. She discreetly glanced between her scroll and Lily, a suspicion slowly growing in her mind. "Could Lily be….? There's no way…is she related to Weiss Schnee?"

She was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of her scroll receiving a message. To her surprise, the message was from Lily: "Hey, I need to talk to you about something. Can you come to my room after we're done here?" Blake nodded at Lily, who quietly pressed a key card into her hand.

She quickly messaged back, "I need to stop at my room first, I'll meet you there."

With the lunch a big success, the group split apart for the afternoon activities. Yang, Winter, and Ruby headed off to relax in an anime theater, one of the many rooms dedicated to playing episodes from various shows throughout the weekend. Blake and Weiss were to return to their hotel rooms to freshen up.

The hotel room was freshly cleaned when Weiss finally made it back. Exhausted, she flopped down onto the bed and kicked her shoes off. After some time, she wiggled to the edge of the bed to reach into her suitcase, fishing out a large neko dango plush. Once in a comfortable position on the bed, she pressed her face into the round kitty, steeling herself for the upcoming confrontation.

The silence in the room was suddenly broken by footsteps. Weiss automatically launched into action, glyphs blooming behind her pulsing with energy, a giant armored hand and sword materializing through one.

"Calm down Weiss, it's me." Somehow Winter broke into her room, and was standing before her with a mixed expression on her face. "I'm glad to see that you've been keeping up your training. Last time we practiced, you couldn't summon at all."

"Oh…sorry," Weiss said, cutting off her semblance. "Um…hi! Heh…what a surprise meeting you here, Winter! I thought you were with the others…" Her voice died, not knowing what to say. She retrieved her cat from the floor where it landed and cradled it close. "Crap…"

"I said I needed to step away for a bit. Military business and the like." She took a seat in a nearby chair. "So. 'Lily' I must say I'm surprised. I never thought the next time we would see each other would be here. Apparently, my sister is the hardcore anime fan Yang sometimes talks about."

"Well…I wasn't expecting this either, to be quite honest...and I hope that dolt hasn't said too much about me."

"It must be fate, the two of us meeting up like this. I'm glad I have some connection to you after all these years," Winter continued, moving to sit beside Weiss on the bed. "Seeing how close Ruby and Yang are…I know I haven't been a very good older sister. I hope I can fix that now." She placed her hand on Weiss' shoulder, swallowing thickly.

"I would like that very much," Weiss stammered, in a small voice.

There was a heavy silence in the room. "So…when are you going to ask Blake out?"

'Wh-what? Am I that obvious?" Weiss hadn't said a single word to anyone about her growing feelings for Blake.

"It's painfully obvious, Weiss." Winter shook her head, smiling faintly. "Not to mention that Yang has been telling me how gay 'Lily' and Blake are for each other. Everyone has been placing bets as to which of you will make the first move."

Weiss groaned and flopped back onto the bed, covering her eyes with a hand.

"I put $100 down on you making the move," Winter admitted, grinning in a very Yang-ish way. She looked at the black mochi cat in Weiss' arms, raising an eyebrow. Embarrassed, Weiss dropped her head, shoving the furry black ball out of sight. With a quiet chuckle, Winter stood and walked to the window. "Well, I believe she is exiting the elevator right now so I will take my leave. Let's have some fun together this weekend. And I…I want you to know that I love you Weiss." With that, Winter disappeared through the penthouse hotel suite window.

As the shock of the moment passed, Weiss could only clench her hands and squeeze her eyes shut, frantically trying to keep the tears at bay. "Winter…I love you too."

There was a light knock at the door. "But the timing of this!" She cleared her throat and blinked furiously, trying to strike a casual pose sitting on the bed before Blake entered the room with the key card she gave to her.

Blake gently closed the door behind her, looking around in awe. "I knew you were well off but this is incredible, Lily." She plopped herself down on the floor, rubbing her hands on the high quality carpet. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I guess it's now or never…I can trust Blake, she won't expose me to the world...Just do it Weiss…!"

"B-blake…I have something I need to tell you." Shakily, she put her hair up into her trademark off-center ponytail and wiped the makeup from her scarred eye. "My name isn't Lily White…it is Weiss Schnee."