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Winter Schnee's reputation as an Ice Queen was, in her opinion, unfair. She was a specialist of the Atlesian Military, so that meant she had a good number of classified missions that kept her out of touch. Friends and loved ones outside the know would ask questions, and would want answers-even to the questions she couldn't answer. As a direct result, she didn't know a lot of people outside the military.
Which meant regulation and protocol further limited her relationships. Friendships, well, those weren't impossible. She did know a few people who she tried to get birthday cards when she remembered. Often they were a week late, because she'd been distracted or deployed far from them. But the few who called her friend understood-some of them were specialists as well.
Questions about her love life were inevitable. She had no idea where the rumor about Branwen had begun, and if she found out it was Qrow, she was going to kill him with her bare hands. Aside from dismissing those suggestions, she'd usually answer the same general platitudes. She was too busy. How could she trust anyone in her line of work? She'd never know if they wanted her, or to say they had fucked a Schnee. She'd met far too many of those in the Academy.
To some extent, each answer was true. The reality was her heart hadn't been hers to give in a very long time. It had been claimed, if unknowingly, when Winter was still in the academy. It was in possession of someone she hoped wasn't aware of the fact-because she hadn't been able to offer her love to them openly. Back then, it would have been questionable because of her age, because of the difference, and because of his position in the school.
Now, the age difference would probably still bring some pause, his precarious alliance with her father, and the fact that relationships between a commanding officer and individuals of lower rank were severely frowned upon. There was no one in the Atlesian Military higher ranked than General Ironwood, and Winter reported directly to him.
There could be no future there . She knew that, in the rational half of her mind, but she'd never been able to shut it out of her heart. Thus, it lingered in the corners of the emotional half of her mind. He was still the last thing she thought about when she drifted off to sleep, and the first thing she thought of once awake.