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For the first time in several weeks, Vi and Caitlyn had absolutely nothing to do.
The attack on the council had all but thrown them into constant action and chaos. When they first arrived in Piltover, the city was in shambles, people screaming and fleeing. With half of the council members deceased and the other half in critical condition, the mantle of leadership had been thrust upon Caitlyn, the citizens looking to the new head of the Kiramman family for guidance. Even with all the years she’d spent under her mother’s guidance, there was no way she could’ve been prepared for this.
There had been no time to mourn, no time to grieve the loss of life as she once knew. Day after day it was work, work, and more work. In a way, Caitlyn was thankful for it— if she was busy then she didn’t have time to linger on her own emotions. They could stay buried in the depths of her heart. It was easier that way.
But after a while, Jayce and Councilor Medarda were well enough and ready to relieve her of such responsibility. And while she was more than happy to let go of such a burden, she wasn’t prepared to deal with the weight of everything she’d been doing her best to ignore.
She felt like she was being suffocated and it would have crushed her, had she been alone. Had Vi not been the one person in her life who kept her grounded.
The two of them were laying in Caitlyn’s bed, Caitlyn with her back against the headboard and Vi’s head in her lap. As she absent mindedly combed through Vi’s pink hair with her fingers, Caitlyn marveled at the serenity of the moment. Parts of her were still broken and mending, some parts she wasn't sure if they even could be mended, but Vi brought a kind of comfort that her bleeding heart desperately needed.
Life without Vi seemed impossible now.
"That feels good," Vi mumbled. Her eyes were clouded with fatigue and she quietly yawned. Vi had been just as busy as Caitlyn these past few weeks, leading the effort in tracking down her sister and settling the turmoil in the undercity caused by Silco's death. Sometimes they would go days without seeing one another; those moments were always the hardest. Though sitting around and doing nothing made her feel restless, Caitlyn was happy if it meant being with Vi. She continued to massage Vi's scalp with gentle fingers.
"Your hair is getting long," she said.
"Mmhm, I'll cut it again soon."
"You cut your own hair?"
"Visiting a barber isn't really on your list of priorities when you barely make enough to eat," Vi said. There was no malice in her voice; she was just stating a fact. "And they don't care about shit like that in prison."
"I can't imagine they'd hand you a pair of shears in Stillwater."
"No," Vi smirked at the little joke. "I stole a spoon and filed it against the wall until it was sharp enough to cut."
Caitlyn made a sound of concerned amusement. She brought her other hand up and used her knuckles to rub the buzzed side of Vi's head. Vi sighed in contentment.
"I tried to cut my own hair once, when I was younger," she said. "My mother found me in the bathroom, a pair of scissors in one hand and a clump of my hair in the other. She was absolutely mortified and wouldn't leave me alone with anything sharp for years."
Vi chuckled at the anecdote before tilting her head up to study Caitlyn's face. The thought of her mother put a somber smile on Caitlyn's face and a throbbing ache in her heart. Understanding flashed in Vi's eyes.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize." They'd been over this multiple times in the beginning; Vi had been overcome with guilt over the carnage Jinx had caused. Even in all her anger and pain, Caitlyn held no blame against Vi. She couldn't blame her, not when Vi was just as wrought with agony herself.
"I'm not blaming myself," she responded, knowing what was on Caitlyn’s mind. "I just know what it feels like, losing someone."
"Does it ever stop?"
"No." Vi's voice was soft, barely above a whisper. "But you learn to breathe a little easier. And you keep them alive by remembering the good times."
They fell into a tender silence as Caitlyn ruminated Vi's words. It made sense; a part of her did feel better after sharing that story of her mother. But it was also hard to imagine a future where she’d feel okay again, a future where the thought of her mother wasn’t so tainted with pain. The longer her thoughts lingered on the sensation the more she felt like she was drowning in her sadness with no way to ever swim back to the surface.
Caitlyn took a breath when she felt Vi's hand cover her own. Her senses focused on the touch and she exhaled.
"I've got you."
Vi’s voice was her beacon home, the light in the midst of a never-ending dark. Her battered heart was safe with Vi.
"I think I like your hair like this," Caitlyn whispered after a while. Taking several of the longer strands between her fingers, she began to twist them into a thin braid down the side of Vi's face. Her fingers danced against Vi’s forehead as she worked. One braid became two, two became three. Vi's eyebrows relaxed at the gentle touch and she nuzzled her cheek into Caitlyn's thigh.
"Powder used to beg me not to cut it because she liked playing with it so much."
Caitlyn hummed in response, continuing to fiddle with her hair.
“I used to get really annoyed, because sometimes she would tug too hard and it’d get more tangled than it already was.” She pursed her lips and sighed. “But after our parents passed, I would sit there and let her do whatever she wanted. It was one of the only things that helped calm her down.”
Vi’s attention drifted off into the distance, getting lost in her reminiscence. Caitlyn’s heart grew tender when she realized that Vi was mourning as well, for the loss of the sister she once knew. To her it was just as painful as losing someone to death, maybe worse in some ways. The bond they shared would never be the same again and telling Caitlyn these memories was how Vi healed her own wounds.
It was how Vi let her know that she was trusting Caitlyn with her broken pieces too.
Caitlyn finished the fourth and final braid. She cupped Vi’s cheeks between her hands and leaned down to kiss her gently. She didn’t notice that she was crying until she pulled away and saw the droplets on Vi’s cheek.
“What’s wrong, cupcake?” Vi reached up to wipe the wetness away. Caitlyn sniffled and shook her head, smiling through the tears.
“I’m glad I have you.”
Vi sat up and turned around. Maneuvering herself over Caitlyn’s lap, Vi copied the way Caitlyn held her face just moments before and brought their foreheads together. Caitlyn closed her eyes and let the tears continue to spill down her face.
“I’ve got you,” Vi whispered again. “I’ve got you.”
She leaned forward and brought their lips together for another kiss.
For now, this was enough.