Weiss Schnee looked out the window. She could see her reflection, her dead blue eyes overlapped with the fields that stretched alongside the railroad. "Her dead blue eyes". His words echoed in her head when she saw the reflection returning her absent stare. Her hand went to her chest, clutching her clothes instinctively. She had always thought she had pretty eyes. Pretty blue eyes. Not anymore though. Just another of the many things he had ruined for her.

For a second, the fields gave way to the river as the train crossed the bridge. A small island in the distance caught her eye. Her hand left her chest and found its way back to her lap, its proper place. Was that a castle? She closed her eyes and tried to keep the fleeting image in her mind. It had been beautiful while it lasted. Maybe she'd try to paint it later, but she doubted it. She wasn't good enough, she couldn't do the landscape justice. This was often a problem. She opened her eyes and looked at her frail hands resting on her lap. They had never been able to keep up with her. They couldn't paint as well as her mind. Nor fence. Nor sculpt. They hadn't even been able to hold on to him. This time her hands stayed in place, but she felt the small movement of her skirt as she tugged at it for an instant. That was the problem right there, her hands just wouldn't listen to her. Dead eyes, stupid hands. There was no way around it: she just wasn't good enough. And still…it had been beautiful while it lasted.

The thought had been there for less than a second, but it had been enough for her to shut down. For her to go even deeper into her icy fortress, he would have said. "And he would have been right." she heard herself whisper. But her hands didn't move. It didn't hurt. Nothing could ever hurt her in her fortress. Nothing could even reach her there. The ice was so thick not even light or warmth could make it through. She hated those walls, but she knew they were the only thing keeping her alive.

She stayed like that for a long time. Hours. Outside the walls, many thoughts rushed by. Painful memories of the past, fears (and sometimes even the fleeting hope) for the future, the uncertainty of the present. They all tried to breach the walls and failed. And then something happened. A small crack on the ice. Something reached her.

It was the smell of roses. She looked up. There was a rose on her face. Her hand, disobedient as ever, reached to grab the flower. As she did, she felt the warmth of a strange hand pulling away. She lowered the rose and was met with the pretty face of a girl about her age. She was leaning in and she was very close. There was a broad, almost ridiculous smile on her face, which was framed by a bright red hood. Weiss tried to back away a little, but she was trapped in her seat.

"What…what do you want?" she asked. She tried to sound as annoyed as she could to get the girl to back away, but she didn't do a very good job at it.

"Nothing!" Surprisingly, the girl did back away a bit. And she was…blushing? "I just…um…I just thought you could use a flower is all. You looked a bit down there. Wow. I mean, um…" She was definitely blushing now. Her face was as red as her hood.

"What's wrong with you?" Again, her attempt at sounding annoyed was not as effective as she would have liked. She wanted to be left alone, but she had to admit the girl had caught her attention.

"I…nothing. Sorry it's just…" the girl closed her eyes "you have really pretty eyes" she was speaking really fast now "Kinda caught me off guard there when you looked up." A second passed. The girl opened her eyes, but found herself looking at white hair. Weiss was facing the window again. "Aaaanyway. Wow, look at the time. I'm gonna be late for…being on the train. Hehe." Weiss heard her steps as she walked away. She was gone.

A few minutes passed and she felt her hand rise from her lap and to her chest again. This time it brought the rose with it, and the scent filled her once more, melting the ice. For the first time in a long time, a shy smile found its way to her face. On the other side of the window, another pair of pretty blue eyes shared her tears.