Chapter Text
they were here.
the sharp cold that was impossible to get used to, the lazy sun never doing its job properly and most importantly snow.
snow, snow, snow. never ending, never softening.
it did look beautiful but she could understand why Weiss never liked returning to this place. Patch was warm and inviting in spring, very hot and also fun in summer, soft and calming in fall and quiet in winter. it always changed if you were tired of one season you could just wait for the next one to come. it was a nice place to grow up.
but Atlas… nothing but freezing, uncomfortable cold and endless white.
she looked at Weiss’ face to detect any negative emotion but surprisingly Ruby found none.
‘’Winter will be here in a few minutes apparently she got hold up by Ironwood’’ Weiss let them know with an eye roll. and Blake chuckled as she stepped away from Yang, who pouted at the loss.
‘’i respect your sister for still not killing him’’ she spoke as she made eye contact with Weiss.
Blake would be lying if she said Atlas was comfortable for her but Weiss was family and she would do anything for her family. she knew they had no reason to hide or to be extra careful like she had to be with when she came here as a member of White Fang but knowing something and acting according to it were very different.
all of her thoughts went right back to the back of her mind as she heard Weiss’ light laugh. even Ruby who was trying very hard to not touch Weiss all the time, Winter made her very nervous, grabbed her hand.
‘’honestly, i have no idea. she’s never one to complain about anything so it’s too amusing to me to ask her how she stands to work with him’’ she smiled at her team.
‘’before we continue, i want you three to know how much i appreciate you for coming with me. i’m aware that it’s just four days but it would feel like four years to me if you weren’t here’’
if Weiss was a sappy person she would write a song the way her friends were looking at her but she, most certainly, wasn’t. of course not.
and if she melted against Ruby as she hugged her waist from behind no one could prove that.
‘’you know we’re always here for you Weiss, you couldn’t get rid of us even if you tried’’
as the words left her mouth she knew Weiss would tease her so Ruby left a little kiss to her neck and placed her head on her shoulder.
Ruby swayed them a little on their spot, Blake and Yang’s talking as their white noise.
‘’are you going to tell Winter why you really came here or are you going to make Whitley confess to her?’’ she mumbled, closing her eyes.
‘’i haven’t decided yet, although-’’ both of their eyes opened as they heard Yang yelling Winter’s name.
Yang put Blake down, they had no idea when did that happen, to shake Winter’s hand and greet her properly.
‘’looking good Winter! what do you say we spar sometime, no weapons’’ Yang grinned as she grabbed Winter’s hand, making Winter smile a little.
‘’pleasure, Yang. i have cleared my schedule to spend time with Weiss so i should be available’’ welcoming the hard pressure on her hand returning it just as strong.
Ruby watched as Blake joined their conversation, she and Winter had a respectful relationship which both of them appreciated. so their talk was more like Yang talking and them making small comments here and there.
‘’i think we should interrupt Yang before she starts talking about our embarrassing stories’’ Weiss said quietly, not wanting their attention on her. Ruby’s laugh came immediately as she took a step back to give Weiss a little space, she used that space to turn around and grab her hand.
Weiss’ walk nearly turned into a run and she let go of Ruby’s hand to crash into her sister.
‘’Winter! i’ve missed you, i hope we’re not stealing you from anything too important-’’ she flinched as her sister flicked her on the forehead lightly and she looked up to see her frowning.
‘’do not talk nonsense Weiss, nothing is more important than you’’ she smiled as Weiss huffed in annoyance and hugged her harder.
‘’now please introduce me to your ‘girlfriend’ ’’ Winter’s demeanor changed a little as Weiss pulled away from her and grabbed Ruby to pull her closer. she might’ve heard a quiet ‘here we go’ from Yang but she paid her no mind.
‘’hello, ma’am- sir, Miss Schnee’’ they’ve met before, of course. everytime Weiss was to come to Atlas to take care of some business her team came with her. also Winter always came to Beacon whenever she was in Vale.
so to see Ruby like this in front of Winter was a little funny. as she turned to look at Yang and Blake she found one of them biting her lip to not laugh and the other one loudly laughing.
‘’Ruby, you do remember we’ve met before, am i correct?’’ her tone was cold but the tiny movement of her lips turning upward was more than enough for Weiss, Ruby couldn’t see that though.
‘’ma’am-’’ Winter raised her hand to cut her off.
‘’you call me that one more time and we’ll have a problem, Ruby’’ the said person looked up to meet her eyes and started parting her lips.
‘’no, you can’t call me sir either’’ Ruby smiled a little and started to look like her normal self.
‘’i had no issues with you before and i do not have any now’’ she talked slowly as if she was trying to assure Ruby she didn’t need to fight her for Weiss’ hand.
‘’but if i hear her crying because of you it will not be pretty’’ she tilted her head to the side and took a step forward, Ruby had to look up to meet her eyes.
‘’am i clear?’’ if she didn’t know them Weiss would think Ruby was Winter’s soldier, she chuckled at the idea.
‘’crystal, Winter’’
Winter was the first one to throw her hand forward and the moment Ruby grabbed it Winter pulled her forward easily like she was weightless. nothing but Blake’s left ear moved as Winter started whispering to her ear.
when she was finished she squeezed Ruby’s hand once and let it go. Ruby gave her a sharp nod and returned to Weiss' side.
it was Blake’s voice that reminded them ‘’i’m sure Whitley’s waiting for you Weiss’’
‘’you are right, let’s go’’ Weiss grabbed Ruby’s hand and linked them immediately, she knew that Winter would support her through anything but her being alright with her relationship and vocalizing it were so important for her.
also extremely relieving. in another situation she would also do something like this with her mother but she didn’t see her in a long time and didn’t like to upset herself for no reason, her mother’s opinions on this subject didn’t matter. her team only saw her mother for under three minutes and it was more than enough.
although Whitley was saying she was getting better slowly so they would have to have dinner together to make him happy, at least once. the things she does for her siblings.
‘’woah, now that’s a car’’ Yang mumbled as she started to jog towards it, Blake right behind her. someone had to stop her from taking out the engine to look at it thoroughly. and Blake’s biggest mistake was loving her partner, Weiss mused.
‘’you first, love’’ while she was watching Yang, Ruby apparently led her to their car for the day and opened the door for her.
she kissed her cheek as a thank you and stepped in. this one was smaller than the ones she normally rode but it was still comfortable for six people, Winter probably got this to not make her team uncomfortable and Weiss was grateful.
Ruby saw Yang giving up on bothering their driver for a ride and Blake grabbed her arm to drag her. now sure that they were coming she took her seat next to Weiss, placing a hand on her thigh as she laid her head to her lover’s shoulder.
‘’got tired, darling?’’ Weiss got comfortable and started to play with Ruby’s hair. their ride wasn’t that long but Atlas was always busy so she was sure the traffic wasn’t going to be merciful to them.
Ruby hummed and closed her eyes, she wasn’t going to sleep but she still wasn’t used to long air travels like that so her head hurt a little.
when finally Winter and their teammates got in, the driver started the car. honestly she couldn’t make out the rest of their ride. it must have been at least an hour though because she could see the red of Yang’s eyes, clearly bothered by the slow pace.
she was about to straighten herself but Ruby’s head would fall off then so she tapped her cheek once and kissed the top of her head.
‘’we’re here Ruby, we’ll rest once we’re fed’’ Ruby raised her head and cracked her neck.
‘’ah, i couldn’t fall asleep you weren’t kidding about the Atlas traffic’’ she was pouting so Weiss pecked her on the lips once, that’s a lie it was twice, and it was time to go unfortunately. seeing the look on Weiss’ face, she groaned a little before opening the door and slowly coming out.
they weren’t as familiar with Whitley as they were with Winter but seeing him happily, happy as in Schnee standards, talking with Blake made Ruby warm inside. Weiss got out right after her and linked their arms as she started walking towards their objective of this mission.
Whitley stepped away from the conversation he was just having to greet her sister. He was getting taller and taller everytime Weiss saw him, he gained a little weight and his hair was a lot longer but the thing that was attracting her attention the most was the sparkle in his eyes.
he looked genuinely glad to be in this place and doing his business rightly, it was such a beautiful sight to see.
she didn’t know what made the difference. if she was being honest they rarely saw each other in person so anything could’ve happened in that time they didn’t see each other but this was something else. he was happy to be with her siblings, she was sure but his change was about that boy her brother was obsessed with.
‘’hello, Whitley. Yang could you lift him up to see if he’s healthy please?’’ Yang did this the first time they met just to mess with him but Weiss did see him actually liking the interaction, secretly of course, and Weiss asked Yang to do it every time she felt like it since then.
Winter, apparently never saw this event before so her eyes widened as she waited for things to unfold. the moment Yang picked him up in a bridal style and started to walk around as if she was actually inspecting something, she couldn’t keep the smile off her face.
‘’Miss Xiao Long, please hand me the item. it must be studied at Atlas Academy’’ she spoke in her military voice as she held out her arms in front of her, still smiling a little.
‘’of course, Ma’am. be careful though it looks dangerous’’ the package changed hands and the team chuckled as Whitley wiggled.
Weiss pulled Ruby down to whisper ‘’he looks like a giant worm doesn’t he?’’ and stared as she exploded with giggles. stupid animal jokes never failed to make Ruby laugh and she took advantage of that fact whenever she saw an opening.
‘’please, lower me dear sister. Mother is waiting for us at the small dining room’’ Winter lowered him without saying a word and sighed before walking inside the mansion.
Blake looked at Whitley ‘’if you want to have a family dinner by yourselves, it’s alright we respect it. we can have a meal with Klein at the kitchen’’
Weiss opened her mouth to object and tell her how utterly stupid she was being but the person that’s spoken to responded instead.
‘’we should speak as family soon, that’s right, but i assure you it would only worth a tea time’’ he turned around to walk inside but stopped at the last step.
‘’also a meal must be eaten as a family and you are all part of that through Weiss, now let’s go’’
they looked at each other before starting to laugh.
‘’can’t believe he just called us his indirect family’’ Yang said, still laughing.
‘’all these Schnee siblings are the same’’ Blake hummed as she traced her chin with a finger, looked like she was thinking ‘’they like someone and become a softie’’
Weiss playfully yelled a ‘’hey!’’ behind her back and grinned as Yang also runned after her to catch up.
‘’i mean, we both know she’s not wrong’’ Ruby kissed her on the cheek and jogged to the front door all while grinning ‘’come on, babe!’’
Weiss chuckled at her partner’s antics and took a deep, deep breath. this was going to be a long trip and she couldn’t wait to see the rest of it.