Winter turned to spring very gently that year, and the 3rd year anniversary of Deliverance Day approached.

Vacuo always made a big deal out of it, with a huge party on the actual day and dramatic reenactments of the tale--what was known of it.

Oscar's book seemed like it would never be done.

He visited Vacuo, while on spring break in Beacon, to ask Weiss and Meridian for more details for his book.

"Just how much of this is going to be left the same?" Weiss asked.

"Well, some of it is mostly the same. Some of it I have to change so no one knows who Shine and Wally really were," he explained. "It's hard."

"I don't envy you that task, laddie," Meridian said amiably, since it wasn't him writing it.

"I feel like you're the one we knew the least about," Oscar said to him. "That's partly why I want to ask you for more. I mean...one question people ask me a lot at Beacon is what we're all doing now. Did we live happily ever after? I guess some of them don't follow the news about us very well."

"Did we live happily ever after?" Meridian looked at Weiss. "What do you think, Snow Tiger?"

"I think it's a little early to say 'ever after'," Weiss said carefully. "But happily, sure. I've been happy. In fact it's been nice to be happy. The longer I go outside my father's house, the less real it all seems to me. Not that you ever forget, I guess, but.... And the same with the horrible things we saw on the mission. They seem like nightmares. Though I heard Emerald and Mercury found some of them...but thankfully, we haven't seen them here. In fact, not one Grimm has crossed the borders of Vacuo since we set up those music stands, not in three years. The city's been the safest it's ever been. I guess the Apathy scare made them realize stealing wasn't so bright."

She huffed as if that should have been easy to realize.

"So how do you get on with them?" Oscar put a pen to his mouth the way authors do. "Still having trouble?"

"Oh, no, they love her now," Meridian said.

"I think I've gotten used to how things work around here," Weiss shrugged.

"So what will you do after you graduate?" Oscar asked.

"You sound like the reporter who came here to ask us that," Weiss said. "I guess people always wanted to know what the Schnees are doing."

[I hope that doesn't make them the Kardashians of this world.]

"I like being popular," Meridian said.

"Well...I have been thinking about it." Weiss rubbed her knee. "I don't know if I want to just be a huntress. I like helping people, but I never really liked the fighting part that much. I'm not like Winter there. Or Ruby, even. I took other classes--though it was hard to do that here. I've also read Shine's entire book list."

"Oh, wasn't it eye-opening?" Oscar perked up. "I didn't know people thought about all the things those authors did. It was like meeting friends who actually understood the things I wonder about."

"Yeah, it was," Weiss agreed. "But it got me thinking that there's a real lack of that in Remnant. I wonder if our world must have seemed pretty empty to Shine and Wally while they were here. So much of what we do is focused on surviving, killing, fighting. I mean, our art is even mostly just about that. The things their books describe sound different. Like there's worlds where people don't all think about potentially dying because of monsters."

"We aren't always going to have that," Oscar mused. "Eventually."

"So what will we do then, is what she was thinking," Meridian said. "That's all these people know. Certainly all the ones in this kingdom know. To be honest, half of them wouldn't know what to do with themselves if they weren't in poverty and constant battles. I don't mind a good scrap, but I admit, it's not all I want. Especially since meeting Weiss. She's so refined, makes you think life could be different."

Weiss turned red. "I'm not that refined anymore..."

"For Vacuo," Oscar and Meridian said at the same time, which Meridian thought was hilarious.

"But even Theo has said he's not sure what to tell students now," Weiss mused. "He can't just tell them there will always be Grimm anymore. And...did you hear Emerald's report? Winter sent it to us."

"Oh, yeah, they're changing. It's pretty horrific," Oscar said. "Shine told me that it's them changing more to what they have in their world, only they're in this weird, in-between stage where they're not one or the other, and they're more dangerous that way. I guess once they stop being material all together, the only people who can fight them will be us. And people like us.... We don't have too many like that."

"There's another thing--we need more people who know this stuff," Weiss said. "We're not gonna live forever, are we? I mean, best case scenario, we all live to our 80s or 90s. Remnant will need someone to carry it on."

"Not a nice thought, but it's the way it is," Meridian said. "And we all saw what living too long does to a fellow with Ozma. Better to just go out at the right time."

"The afterlife sounds pretty good." Oscar tapped his book. "But I'd like to feel the world was ready for us to move on. I get why Ozpin felt like that. People never seem as ready as they could be."

"We weren't either," Weiss said. "Shine and Wally must have thought the same thing about us. There's always more we could know. So I think the best thing we could do is show people how to learn it. And how do we do that?"

"I've tried," Oscar said. "I guess I hoped the book might help with that. I'll be done soon, I think. But it's not enough."

"Better study on that," Meridian said. "But if that's our next step...well, I had some of me mates ask me how I stop Grimm so easily now. My Semblance only got stronger after that mission."

"People often just don't get it when I try to explain what happened," Weiss mused. "Honestly so many of our adventures sound so unbelievable, I wouldn't have believed them myself if I heard them from someone else."

"Maybe that's your angle," Oscar said. 

He was starting to talk like a writer about things like that, probably because of Ooblek's influence.

"My what?"

"I mean, your way of explaining it. Telling them you wouldn't have bought it either, but you've changed your mind now. I bet they'd listen if you did that."

"I guess..." Weiss tapped her chin. "I'd like to do more. I could try teaching, like Mer, but I don't want to teach combat."

"Well, no one said it had to be combat," Meridian said. 

"I'm sure you'll find out what you want to do," Oscar said.

"Maybe you should pray about it," Weiss said. "I hear you're pretty good at helping people figure things out. Like with that dust mine."

"I'm sure that wasn't really me." Oscar was shy. "I just try to help."

"You'll never realize how special you are," Meridian said. "And that's just as well. Wouldn't want you to get a big head."

Weiss pretended to shove him.

"Are you guys done yet?" Ruby poked her head into the library.

"I guess we were." Oscar closed his notebook.

"Weiss, you have to introduce me to your new friends," Ruby said.

"Hmm, I guess they should meet my niece." Weiss was just as bad as Ruby about running this joke into the ground, just in a different way.

"Oh, and Winter is here," Ruby said. "Took her long enough. For all Raven uses her Semblance to send us places, we always seem to cut it close."

"Oh, gosh, I'm not even ready yet!" Weiss put her hands to her head. "I was going to change into something a bit more formal. I don't want Winter to think I've gone totally native here."

Weiss had lost even more of her fancy frills to her clothes in the last year or so, though she still had style. But it just didn't pay to weigh yourself down too much in the desert heat.

"You look fine," Ruby brushed it off. "In fact I should lose the cape--I'm dying here. I forget how hot it is in springtime."

"I wouldn't recognize you without that cape on," Meridian said.

"Oh, and Emerald came with Penny and Kip," Ruby said. "And the last I saw she was getting challenged by some of your... classmates."

"Uh oh, they can get a little frisky with new blood." Meridian rushed out the door.

"Oh, great," Weiss said. "I better help. His Semblance will just encourage them to do it."

"Gosh, how do you two manage?" Ruby said.

"Well, he hypes people up, and then I ice them out, so there's balance," Weiss explained.

"Oh, that makes sense." Oscar said that unironically, and that made them laugh oddly at him.

"But, Ruby, are you nervous about your graduation?" Oscar said.

It was later the same day.

Shade's was early in the day to avoid the worst of the heat--and so they could party at night--and Beacon's would be in the afternoon.

"Oh, we have plenty of time to beam ourselves back to Beacon." Ruby waved it off. "I couldn't miss Weiss'."

"Does Raven ever get tired of this?" Oscar said.

"Oh, she's complained that we use her as a taxi service too much, but the truth is she'd be super offended if we didn't," Ruby said. "At least that's what Dad said. Apparently Raven is the type of person who complains if you won't trust her abilities, but also complains if you use them too much. I don't really get it."

"I can kind of relate...slightly..." Oscar remembered being seen as Ozpin being both annoying and flattering at times.

* * *

Emerald had, in fact, been accosted by...fans?

She thought they were fans.

It was hard to tell in Shade.

"We hear you're pretty tough now. You should fight us," a bunch of the students urged her.

"I bet we could learn a few things from a Mind Grimm slayer."

"We could teach each other plenty." That was one of the guys.

Emerald knew what that meant and glared at him, but decided not to encourage him by responding to it.

"Look, I really just came here to see Weiss." She held her hands up and looked annoyed. "So can you clear out?"

"Oh, come on. Where's your sense of fun?" They shrugged.

"All right, lads, break it up." Meridian got in the thick of them and began moving them aside with his sword. "Show the hero some respect, eh? She's not a bloody show pony."

"Ah..." they whined, but they knew better than to cross him.

"Really, you all should be ashamed of yourselves," Weiss scolded them. "She just got here."

"Ah, Weiss, don't start with us," they said.

"Excuse me?" she said warningly. "Who said that?"

They backed up.

"No one," they said at once.

"That's right, no one. Why don't you go find a good seat?" Weiss said.

"Yeah, and popcorn," Meridian added.

"Oh, that's a good idea," someone said readily.

They walked away.

"Wow...nice," Emerald said. "That's some Semblance."

"Semblance? They're just afraid of Weiss," Meridian said.

"It's both." Weiss tossed her ponytail. "I think my scar kind of helps the image here, you know? Also I can summon huge beasts now."

"Such a cheat power," Emerald said.

"Salutations!" Penny hugged Weiss without much warning.

"Is my mother around?" Kip was hovering.

"She's probably still at the lab," Meridian said. "We don't see her much."

"I guess I should say hi to her since I'm here," Kip said. "You know, I was talking to Mercury about it, and it got me thinking--" He broke off suddenly.

Emerald looked up. "It's fine," she said. "It's not like I haven't brought it up."

"Is that jerk giving you trouble again?" Weiss asked.

"No, no, he's ignored me," Emerald said.

"What a jackass," Meridian said. "I'd have thought he'd at least try to get you back. Women like to feel wanted."

"Meridian! That's bad advice," Weiss said. "What if she really just wants to make a clean break? But it's not any of our business."

Weiss was definitely nosier than him, but she'd be more sneaky about it.

"I guess you heard everything already," Emerald said.

"I always thought you were too good for him," Meridian said. "If it helps."

"That's nice, but it's not really what it's about," Emerald said. "Just... I guess... it felt like we weren't growing. I'm sure you don't really want to hear about it. It'll bring down the mood."

"Actually I wouldn't mind hearing what really happened," Weiss said. "I didn't really get much from Winter other than you broke up..."

"Maybe later, but right now, isn't this kind of your day?" Emerald said.

"Maybe she seriously doesn't want to to talk about it," Meridian hissed to Weiss.

"Oh, we'll talk," Weiss said determinedly. "But later."

* * *

Weiss found Winter waiting outside the auditorium they'd be using for the ceremony.

Only about 12 people were graduating. Not that many had elected to complete the course after Shade had been closed so long and then reopened for new students.

Weiss had made friends with some of the other older students.

"I'm...proud of you." Winter had worked on being able to voice these thoughts, but she was still awkward about it.

"So am I." Weiss had caught some of Meridian's habit of talking like this.

Winter knew it, too. She gave her a look like "droll, very droll."

"But thanks." Weiss hugged her. "I couldn't have come this far without you. You know that, right?"

"Should I say 'yes' and imitate you?" Winter said dryly.

"How are you doing?" Weiss asked. "You look a little pale."

"Just compared to you," Winter said. "You've not been wearing sunblock, have you?"

"It doesn't seem to stop it." Weiss still wasn't really tan, just darker pale.

"But I did feel a little ill on the flight," Winter admitted. "I suppose it was the heat. I'm not used to it anymore."

"Oh, right, you get heatstroke," Weiss said. "Hey, you should be careful. I don't want a repeat of that."

"I'll be perfectly fine. It's just for a few hours." Winter brushed off her concern. "But Miss Nikos--I mean, Pyrrha--wasn't feeling so well either. I think we're too acclimated to Argus now."

"Argus is still warmer than Atlas was," Weiss reflected. "I admit, I did have a hard time at first...but then, I never liked the cold that much either. I think I'm used to it now. Now, you won't be mean to Meridian, I hope."

"When am I ever mean to him? I just think he should conduct himself properly," Winter said.

"This is just what I mean," Weiss said. "He's been nothing but nice, you know. You should really ease up on him."

"I thought I had," Winter said.

"It's been nearly three years," Weiss said. "If he was going to do something reprehensible by now, he would have. Just admit it, he's a good guy."

"Oh, it's not that," Winter said surprisingly. "It's just...you're all grown up. I suppose I just disliked the idea of it. He is a little older than you."

"Three years isn't that much!"

"I know it's not." Winter would not have been one to talk here anyway. "But he seemed already grown up.... You were still a teen, but now you're not, and I can't keep acting like you are. I suppose this is what Qrow felt like with Ruby."

"Now you're going to make me cry," Weiss said. "It's not like I'm totally different now. Still, I think we could be considered mature adults...mostly mature."

"I just hope when I'm not around he's not entirely uncouth," Winter said.

"For Vacuo..." Weiss said slowly.

"That's what I worry about."

"Oh, Meridian isn't rude," Weiss said. "It's just his sense of humor. And we're not so polished ourselves, you know. Not really. That's just an act."

"I guess it doesn't pay to keep it up much outside of work," Winter remarked thoughtfully. "I think Raven is a corrosive influence on my manners. But the militia and volunteers all seem to respect her anyway."

"She's really so much better at it than I'd have thought when she kidnapped me," Weiss remarked. "Gosh, that seems so long ago now."

Not long enough for Winter. But she didn't talk about it.

If someone had told her she'd ever be friends and sisters-in-law with someone who kidnapped her sister, she'd have laughed at them or beaten them up, years ago. Life was weird.

* * *

The graduation ceremony was short and devoid of sappy speeches, because it was Shade.

Instead what they did was have the students give a short demonstration of their skills, if they so chose.

Weiss did a short demonstration with her glyphs and sword.

People applauded.

Theo and Vara awarded the licensed huntsmen badges.

Weiss already had one, of course, but they updated it slightly.

"Hey, hero girl, why don't you lay down some words of wisdom?" someone in the crowd shouted.

"Yeah, tell us what you heroes think of our group of new fighters," someone said.

Probably a reporter.

Weiss looked at Theo helplessly.

Theo just gestured like "go ahead". He was no help.

Mercury just made a motion at her from the crowd.

"Really, this is a bit much," Winter said to Qrow.

"They want a sensation," Qrow said. "We're still a big deal, I guess. Glad I'm not up there."

"Keep talking. They might call you," Jaune remarked.

"Do you think our charges are okay at home?" Pyrrha mused.

"Pyrrha, they're fine," Jaune insisted. "Your parents can handle it."

"Sorry... I just keep thinking about it," Pyrrha said.

Emerald had been trying to not make eye contact with Mercury. She hadn't expected him to even come, but Sun and Neptune had invited him, probably out of pity, and he hadn't known she was going to be there either.

Sun's teammates, Scarlet and Sage, were actually also graduating.

They didn't want to make a fuss about it.

Weiss decided to just make the best of it.

"Ahem," she said. "I didn't really have a speech prepared. I mean, we were not really doing that.... But as a hero, and as a huntress...I think we've come along way, but we still have a long way to go. I've...heard from my comrades." She nodded at hem. "Things are still changing out there. Some good, some bad. Remnant is still moving into a new age. And we have to keep learning and growing. So I guess my take is that just because you get licensed doesn't mean you've arrived. Once, my biggest goal was to achieve this and then improve my family's reputation. But those goals are already happening, and I still want more. I think that's how it always will be."

She paused. "I guess if I had to add anything, it's that any of you listening who think that you're stuck in one situation because of your background or because of some person out there, standing in your way, just know you're not. There's always something you can do to change it. We learned that the hard way, but we fought that first so you all could have an easier time with it."

[Weiss' version of  "I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy." --By John Adams. It adds, "My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain."]

"What about you father?" one nosy reporter called. "Do you have any comments on his loss of the SDC and your brother's inheritance of it?"

Weiss didn't like that question, but she swallowed her annoyance.

"My father and I are not at war," she said carefully. "My brother was supposed to inherit the company anyway, and I think he's doing well with it. We're all wearing new hats now."

"You're not angry you were put out of the inheritance?" they asked.

Winter started to get up, and Qrow pulled her back down.

"Easy, she's got this," he said.

"Impertinent pig," Winter muttered testily.

"I admit," Weiss said, "at first I was. But over time I realized I didn't really want it after all. Whitley is good at it. And I like having the freedom to do something else with my time. I think that goes for all of us here. I don't think we should dictate other people's lives for them, don't you agree?"

She smiled, but it was a smile that said "get wrecked" in a way.

The reporter didn't know what to say to that.

"Anyway, thank you to all of you and congratulations to my classmates." Weiss nodded. "And you too, Ruby."

Ruby waved and cheered.

"That's my aunt," she yelled, totally embarrassing Weiss.

Weiss shook her head and stepped back before anyone could ask her more questions.

"I think that went well," Vara said to her.

"Fat lot of help you were," Weiss said.

"I never went in for public speaking. What did you expect me to do?" Vara shrugged.

https://youtu.be/4VtHUh44ysY

["Praying"--AMV by BatmanFangurl]

* * *

After that, they were all supposed to portal over to Beacon.

Mercury very much wanted to leave instead, but Winter wouldn't let him just take the ship they'd come in.

It had deliveries to make on the way back, she said.

"Besides, the DJs may still show up," she said. "Don't you want to see them?"

"Why would I want that?" Mercury griped. "Just more people to get on my nerves."

Winter studied him. "Mr. Black," she said firmly, "whatever your reasons are, may I remind you that this response has never worked well for you. If you are trying to avoid trouble by avoiding people themselves, you might as well live under a rock. It's time you grow up."

"Did I really need to hear that for you also?" Mercury said. "What does everyone expect from me anyway?"

"That's a good question," Winter said. "It's the first one you've asked that sounded like you really wanted to know the answer instead of just avoid it. I don't know. I'm your boss. I couldn't call myself your friend if you don't see it that way. So I expect little from you except doing your job well. But perhaps other people have had other expectations that you have not met."

"I don't know what they are," Mercury said, "except that I should 'forgive' people. That's what Shine told me last time."

He was actually rather eager to gripe about it.

"That is good advice," Winter said at once.

"Oh, is it? She thinks I should forgive my dad." Mercury was sure Winter at least couldn't have objected to his problem with this, given her own past. "You know what he was like."

"I have heard..." Winter said slowly.

"There you go. I would never do that," Mercury said. "And you can't even say that's wrong, because you haven't forgiven yours either. I mean, what a joke. Who would ever do that?"

Winter stared at him for a long moment.

"Did Shine say why you should?" she asked finally.

"That I wouldn't be able to do anything else unless I did, in 'her opinion'. You know how she talks," Mercury grumbled. "It's such a load of crap."

"I take it you haven't tried."

"No, why would I?"

Winter didn't seem to know what to say.

"Excuse me." Weiss stepped up to them. "I'm sorry, I heard that last part of what you were saying. I thought you meant our father for a second, you know...since I mentioned him earlier. But yours also, Mercury."

"I really don't want to talk about it with you," Mercury said.

Weiss gave him her classic "ice princess" look.

"You should talk to someone," she said pointedly. "Shine told you what to do, and you haven't done it, is that it? You are one of the most stubborn people I know."

"Would you?" Mercury shot back.

Weiss paused. 

"Well...once, I would probably have said 'no way,'" she admitted. "You're not the only one she's told to do that, you know. Winter and I, Jaune, even Emer--" She broke off. "Anyway, we all had to think about it. I have heard that your father was...pretty horrible."

"Try psycho. Think Tyrian but less happy about it," Mercury grimaced.

"Ugh." Winter couldn't even sound professional about that.

"But there's Yang and Raven also," Weiss said. "Plenty of us have people in our lives who hurt us pretty badly and for reasons we don't always understand. Pyrrha forgave Cinder for...killing her."

"Great for her. Do I look like Pyrrha?" Mercury was very bitter. "Suddenly everyone is in my business too, just because Emerald decided I wasn't cutting it anymore."

"That is not accurate, Mr. Black," Winter said coldly. "And I won't have you speak such slander about her either."

"If you really cared about Emerald--" Weiss folded her arms. "--you wouldn't try to make her look bad. Let me tell you something--when we first came here, 3 years ago now, and you were still with Salem, all Emerald ever talked about trying to do was get you out. The rest of us were being jerks to her at the time.... I mean, you can understand why, but we didn't really try to understand her. Only Oscar, Pyrrha, and the DJs did. But Emerald kind of latches onto whatever kindness she gets, which is one of the things I think I admire about her, since I never found that so easy to do."

"Pride getting in the way," Winter commented somberly.

"Yeah," Weiss said. "The point is, I never heard her say she wanted it for her. It was for you. All of it was. Not so many people are that lucky."

Mercury frowned. He knew she was right.

"But you've always been ungrateful, at least, and downright hostile at worst," Weiss said. "And none of us liked you. But maybe I see your point. Your life would make anyone have trust issues. Winter and I do too. Father was horrid. Not like yours, but still..."

"Did he ever hit you?" Mercury suddenly had an interest in knowing this.

"Once," Weiss said.

"What?" Winter somehow had not heard this in all this time.

"I never told you?" Weiss said. "Oh. Guess it's been so long, and I left so soon after that, I never brought it up. It...wasn't that hard. But it was enough. We're always supposed to be so refined, so self controlled. It was just his way of showing me that rules wouldn't apply to him in private. I always knew that, but he proved it."

"One time, wow," Mercury said sarcastically. "I feel so bad for you."

"Mercury," Winter warned.

"You see that?" Weiss suddenly waved her finger in his face in classic Weiss fashion. "That right there is why I can't stand you most of the time."

Mercury backed up. "Because I had it worse?"

"No, because you're the only one care about having it bad at all," Weiss said. "I talked to Yang once about this--that I don't fully understand your pain. Fine, I'll give you that. But I have my own. Everyone does. Just because yours looks worse on the surface doesn't mean the rest of us didn't hurt and didn't have our lives shaped by what happened to us. Winter and I worked hard to escape our father's house, and Whitley never got out at all till the arrest. We left him there. We were selfish--no offense, Winter."

"It's something I've come to regret since, but he was so young, there wasn't much I could do," Winter admitted.

"And I never thought about it," Weiss said. "Whitley kind of is like you--he's a pill about this stuff so that people don't think it bothers him, but it does. We got our second chance, mostly by accident on our parts, Mercury. No one came looking for us. We had to leave. I would have been grateful to have someone like Emerald look for me, or like Hazel...but I did have Klein. I guess we all have some light in our lives somewhere. We can stand here and complain about what we didn't have, but you know, maybe because of that awful stuff we have other good things that most people with nice families don't have. I mean, I've never heard Ruby or Yang talk about anyone doing that for them. But they had each other...and I had Winter too."

"I had Weiss," Winter said. "Once, that was all I thought I would ever have, and I was okay with that."

"You make the most of what you think you can have," Weiss agreed. "But once you can have more--once I had friends, I had to get out and go back to that. That's how I think it works. You have hope, and then you get free."

Mercury looked from one to the other.

"So perhaps we do understand a little of what you feel," Winter said. "In our way. But if you ask anyone of our small, inner group, they would tell you they have similar stories. Most of our rescues from it converge at the point of the big mission, which you were chosen for also. Thus far, we are all equals in one sense."

"Yeah, she's right," Weiss said. "But maybe you did go through some pretty nightmarish stuff as a kid.... We all went through something like that in the Grimm lands or before that. You guys destroyed our homes! Grimm overran them. People died. I'm sorry, Mr. Victim, but do you really think you have it so much worse if we add up everything that happened?"

Mercury opened his mouth to argue and then stopped.

Even he couldn't have bought that if he said it.

He hadn't thought of it that way either.

"In some measure," Winter mused, "it's easier to forgive that, because you didn't personally do all of it or know the full extent of what would happen. And with our closest family that's not the case. I admit, I haven't always wanted to forgive my father either. He made me so angry..."

"Shine's helped me understand that," Weiss said. "We write about it, you know, and there's some books she sent about it. She said we see our parents in ourselves too, whether we like it or not, and one of her last letters she was talking to me about the last mission they went on--I guess since leaving us--and meeting someone there who helped her realize that we become what we hate about people."

[The mission was the MHA--Mystery from Another World story, and the person was Todoroki. Great moment in the story, I thought.]

"A profound thought." Winter had to mull that one over.

"I think it's true," Weiss said. "I've seen things in myself--but I digress. The point is, Mercury, we do get it. I think you're the one who doesn't get it. You think we're not like you because it's not exactly the same story. But I don't think that's true."

"People all suffer the same things," Mercury said oddly, "but the good stuff is what's different."

"Yeah, actually that's about right," Weiss said. "I mean, it's like us. All three of us--and mother, even--had a different path to get out of that mess, but the mess was the same. So that's a good way to put it."

"That's what Kip said, not me," Mercury said. "Doesn't sound like me, does it?"

"Not really." Winter was brutally honest. "But if it did, I'd say you'd learned some wisdom."

"The truth is, I'm still working on forgiveness," Weiss said. "It doesn't help that people ask about it all the time, like back there. But the main thing is, if you spend all your time blaming someone else for how your life is bad, you're not even going to realize if your life is any better. Or just how lucky--or blessed--you might be if you thought about it. Like I said, most people don't get an Emerald."

"I believe Miss Likstar would agree, and so would I, that you can spend your life resenting the things you did not have or the horrors that you went through, or you can be thankful for the things you did have and the things that saved you from said horrors," Winter said. "In one way, it is like your loss of Semblance, if I may be so direct. You lost one thing, but you were given Silver eyes and the chance to activate them, which is far more useful. It's different for us all. If I know one thing now it's that no one's life is complete or perfect in this world, and why would we expect it to be? We of all people know the forces of light and darkness were too much at war to leave anyone untouched. But if good finally overcomes evil, that is the best case scenario for us. You may not like it, but it's our reality that struggle will always be part of our lives. It is the unusual thing that triumph should ever be part of them."

She nodded at Weiss. "We'll need to go soon if we don't want to be late."

"Yeah, we should," Weiss said. "Maybe we can talk about this more later." To Mercury. "If you want. You may not like me, but I'm actually pretty open to listening, if you want. Just don't hate on my other friends while you're talking. I won't have that."

She and Winter both walked away.

[Go team Schnee Sisters!]