Work Text:
An empty seat in a small garden lies next to Caitlyn.
Every Saturday, not one second past noon, ten-year-old Caitlyn packs her bag and dresses in her finest weekend dress to hold her weekly tea party in her favorite family-owned garden in all of Piltover. It was relatively small compared to their other gardens, and she could head to any of the larger ones with a mere snap of her fingers, but its intimacy is why she loves it. The location of every flower, marble furniture, and garden animal has been ingrained in Caitlyn's memory, and she cherishes them.
She puts on her favorite top hat and opens the rustic gate to enter her little, quiet paradise upon arrival. She first checks the bird's nest on top of a yellow leaves tree and remembers her giddiness when she heard the babies. She gets a peek at the mother feeding the siblings on her tippy toes. "Oooh, a huge meal this week, Melissa. With this many nutrients, Darcy, Ezu, and Miriam will be out of the nest in no time," Caitlyn smiles while recording this in her diary. With her chin high, Caitlyn walks to one of two ponds and checks up on a family of ducks she dubbed "The Feva family" after one of her favorite detective characters. Tossing breadcrumbs to the two ducklings and mother, Caitlyn gasps at their size, "goodness me, Yaci and Seza, you're practically grownups now. That or your mother is like mine and loves spoiling you with food."
She's met not even with a quack but only silence. Caitlyn sighs and writes this in her diary when a pink butterfly flutters and lands on her nose. Caitlyn couldn't hold back her gasp, causing the visitor to fly away. "W-wait, I didn't mean to scare you! At Least let me name you," she says, trying to reach out to the butterfly only to see if it disappears in seconds. She sighs and checks her stopwatch to see it's almost time for the party, so she huffs and says to the vanished insect, "Fine, be that way. I don't need another guest at my party anyway."
Caitlyn strolls past rows of flowers to her garden's marble and gold gazebo, a large and ornate tray of fine pottery and sweets awaits her on its large dining table. She always loved when her servants surprised her with their selection of teas and sweets, with today's main course being a dozen pink cupcakes with cherries on top. She unzips her bag and readies the guests, but not before mimicking a trumpet sound.
"Tu-tutu-tu! It seems we have been honored with the most prestigious guests this shimmering spring day," Caitlyn says in a posh manner mimicking her mother. "Our first is Lady Eliza of House Bubble Bear and her colorful charm," Caitlyn says, pulling out a plush bubble bear toy and mimicking its roars before sitting her down.
"Our second guest is Minianna of House Elephant with her boisterous personality," she announces, mimicking its trumpeting roar before politely sitting down the plush animal. Caitlyn then hears something from Minianna making her scoff and whisper to Eliza, "so the rumor was true. Not even a second, and she's already gossiping."
Ignoring the noisy elephant, Caitlyn continues, "Our third guest Myla of House Eagle, who honors us with her golden feathers." She mimics the hawk's cries before sitting them, then her ears perk to a request by the hawk. "G-goodness, Ms. Myla," Caitlyn gasps, her cheeks blushing, "thank you for the compliment but thank my talented staff for today's meal. They… they're not very talkative and can be as stiff as cardboard…b-but I appreciate that they're around. It at least doesn't make this place feel so empty."
Caitlyn frowns upon remembering how often they inform her parents of her outings. These trips would be so much more enjoyable if she didn't have to convince them of going and making promises to attend extra lessons on piltover politics. "They don't like me anywhere but a pretty cage," Caitlyn mutters with quiet hatred towards her parents. She frowns at realizing she's been still silent the whole time and looks at all her guests. "S-sorry for the holdup!" she blushes in embarrassment, "umm, o-our last guest for today is quite special. However, before I introduce her, I ask you to please keep an open mind."
Caitlyn pulls out a brand new rabbit plushie from her bag with an eager smile and hears all the other guests gasp in shock. All their looks and murmurs were like the ones Caitlyn gets from classmates. Always some kind of rumor to talk behind her back. Always some sort of reason to tell 'no' to her.
She can practically hear their voices echo through the guests' own whispers.
"Never before has a member of House Rabbit attended one of these."
"Aren't they practically rodents? No better than rats?"
"It's not even a pretty rabbit,"
"Hey! I said, keep an open mind!" Caitlyn shouts louder than she expected. After an awkward pause, she sits the bunny down, "Sorry for my outburst, but just because my guest is not the usual partygoer does not validate all your muttering."
"But what spurred you to invite such a guest in the first place?" Caitlyn mutters her impression.
"Well, even with new guests like yourselves, I thought of changing things up. Especially after getting…a rejection from someone I thought was a friend," Caitlyn says, her words turning to whispers to the end. "Ahem," she coughs to clear her throat, "umm, without further ado! Let us eat!" She quickly seats herself; to her right, the new bunny enjoying some crackers with cheese, while to her left is the empty seat that's stayed empty for as long as she went to these gardens.
She stuffed a cupcake down her mouth while feeling bothered by this, making the point that she was eating way faster than usual. 'And what's so wrong about that?' she thinks, her mouth is too stuffed with sweets to talk correctly, 'urgh, this is what I get for requesting extra cupcakes for…for….'
Caitlyn couldn't finish her sentence as she swallowed her food. She stares down at her guests, imagining voices from classmates through each of them. "There's always some kind of excuse," she whispers.
"Wait, so the other guests are animals? No way!"
"I can't go. I have a-a playdate planned already! Yeah, that's it!"
"A Kiramman party in some rustic garden? Surely your parents told you how to act like a proper lady, haven't they?"
Having had enough of the guests' annoying chatter, Caitlyn turns her gaze to the empty seat. "What do they know about how a Kiramman should act?" Caitlyn mutters, cursing her classmates' names. "Not once do they see me as different, only seeing my parents…I won't be like them, not ever."
She feels someone staring at her and glances at the rabbit, "Sorry, ms. rabbit," she says, glancing at the other guests again before chuckling at herself. She shakes her head, wiping her eyes while feeling like she should laugh at herself. "You know…I think my parents were right about one thing. I do get overly imaginative." When she turns to the rabbit, she begins seeing not a polite and unique new guest but a stupid toy. "I know that hurts, and I'm sorry if I'm being rude…but after dozens of weeks doing this with you all…I just wish a real person would fill up this seat."
She sighs, unable to stand how quiet the gardens are, and slumps her head down on the table. "Is that even asking for too much?" her muffled voice asks, unsure how long she can stand this monotonous life.
"Waah!" a new loud scream from an unfamiliar voice echoes across the garden.
Caitlyn's head shoots up from her slump. She thought she imagined the sound before a rustle came from the bushes. A gasp escapes her throat, and she whispers, "Ms.rabbit, I believe we have an intruder." An uproar comes from the remaining guests, and she worries they'll attract this intruder's attention. "Shhh, all of you, calm down," she whispers, turning to the bushes with a nervous gaze, worrying about the intruder's dastardly intention. With a shaky sigh, Caitlyn makes up her mind and puts on a confident expression. She fixes her blue top hat and tells the partygoers, "seems like an investigation is an order," before leaping to the suspicious bush.
She peeks through the bush to glimpse at her intruder, her mind reeling with images of who this burglar is. Caitlyn's eyes widened, a gasp barely held back upon seeing not some mustache-twirling villain but a pink-haired girl with ragged clothes and a scratched-up face.
"Owww, my butt," the girl whined while picking leaves out of her hair.
Caitlyn pulls away, placing her hands over her flushed cheeks. Her heart thumps in her chest as the girl's face lingers in her mind. 'A real girl? Here?!' she thinks, for a moment too stunned to comprehend proper thought before forcing herself to snap out of it. 'Focus, Caitlyn, they're still an intruder!' She steadies her restless heart and peeks again at this girl, watching them try to get up before tripping over and cradling their knee. The girl bites her fist while looking at her bloodied knee, droplets of blood staining Caitlyn's pristine garden.
Caitlyn stares at the terrible wound, catching the pain in the girl's eye before popping out of her hiding place and shouting, "are you alright?!"
Perhaps she was too forward as the girl quickly got on her feet and tried to hop over the marble wall, shouting, "Stay away!"
"Wha-? Wait!" Caitlyn pleads, running up and grabbing the girl's legs.
"L-let go!" the stranger whines. Even as the stranger squirms, Caitlyn doesn't let go and pleads with her, "No! Please don't leave me alone!" In their struggle, a shout from the street below causes the stranger to let go of the wall, causing her to drop on top of Caitlyn. She gets the stranger off her and quickly attends to her wounds, "Urgh, you dolts! You're gonna sprain your knee like that-!"
"Shhh!" the stranger hushes, covering Caitlyn's mouth with her hand as shouts are heard beyond the wall.
"She went down here!" a man shouts.
"With her wound, she couldn't have gone far," another man spoke as an audible cocking of a gun was heard.
Caitlyn glances at the stranger's wound to see it was caused by a bullet graze. 'Did…did they try shooting her?' she thinks, inching a hole in the marble wall to see two enforcers outside. "Enforc-" she tries to say, but the stranger again stops her.
"Look, it's blood," one enforcer says, kneeling down to inspect it.
'They're gonna find us,' Caitlyn worries, wondering if telling these men to get this girl to a hospital would be better. They'll probably be discovered anyway, and her status must mean that they'll have to listen to her. It'll be a better option than them finding the stranger and thinking she's trying to rob her. However, when she gazes at the stranger, she sees intense fear in her irises.
"Please don't," she pleads, her eyes watery either from the wound or her fear of being caught.
Caitlyn slowly nods and hopes they don't find them, looking into those silver eyes. After a minute that felt like an eternity, one of the enforcers shouts, "well, have another patrol keep looking here. Let's see if she went this way."
Caitlyn peeks to see both enforcers sprint away. A relief sigh escapes her, "They're gone," she smiles.
The pink girl slumps her head down in relief until a sting from her wound nearly makes her yelp. Caitlyn springs from her feet and runs to her bag to retrieve something. Once she returns, she pulls out a medkit given by her father if she somehow hurts herself. The pain was getting worse as the girl was beginning to hyperventilate, so Caitlyn grabbed her cheeks and whispered, "easy, easy! I'll take care of it." Remembering her father's lessons, she gets the stranger's breathing to slowly match her own, calming her down.
"Good," she smiles, "now please hold still." She pulls out a bottle and napkin, applying the clear liquid to the wound so it won't get infected. Wiping some of the blood off, Caitlyn observes that the actual injury wasn't so bad. It was more like she got a nasty scratch on her leg. She sighs in relief since she wouldn't know what to do if the bullet punctured skin and bone.
Imagining those enforcers ignites a fit of anger within Caitlyn, regardless of what this stranger did. 'How dare they commit a vile act! Shooting a frightened child!' She curses their names, remembering their faces as she wraps a large white bandage over the girl's leg.
Caitlyn pulls back to see the girl get up and see she's no longer bleeding or as hurt. "T-thanks," she mumbles, her silver eyes nervously looking at Caitlyn.
'Heh, how cute,' Caitlyn giggled in her head before clearing her throat.
"I-it's no problem. I'm just glad you're okay now," Caitlyn says, hiding her smile.
'Another girl is here, in my garden!' she squeals, beaming inside. 'My word, if such terrible acts haven't preceded this, I say this is like a dream come true!'
However, the girl then turns her back and grabs onto the marble wall, "Umm, I'll leave you alone now. Goodbye."
"Alone…" the word echoes in her head.
"No!" Caitlyn shouts, grabbing her wrist. She then looks into the girl's eyes and realizes she has frightened her. She shakes her head and stammers with a reason for her to stay, "u-um, you can't go because… t-t-they're still looking for you, remember? Yeah, they'll have a patrol here in seconds, and you'll be forced to run again. Even with your patched-up wound, they'll catch you eventually."
The girl considers her options and asks, "so what should I do?"
Caitlyn lets go of her wrist and softly offers, "you can stay here. I was holding a party when you showed up, and I'd be happy if you joined us."
The girl nervously rubs her arm, "I-I don't think that's-"
"Trust me, it'll only be for a short while," she tells her, though she hoped this would last all day if she were honest. "I'm Caitlyn, by the way. What's your name?"
"Violet," the girl nervously answers. She looks back at the top of the marble wall, pondering her options before nodding to Caitlyn, "I-I guess that be okay." She's then nearly knocked off her feet from Caitlyn's sudden bear hug.
"Excellent!" Caitlyn cheers and grabs Violet's hand, "Oh, your name is beautiful. The others will love you!"
Violet blushes from the comment before being pulled to the large gazebo and sees the guests aren't people but stuffed animals.
"Alright, false alarm, everybody!" Caitlyn chuckles, "rather than some dastardly foe, I found a lovely girl running from some awful men. I even patched up her leg, see?"
"Unfortunately, you didn't clean up the rest of her," the elephant said through Caitlyn's voice.
"Minianna! Keep such words to yourself," Caitlyn retorts, puffing her cheeks as the guests turn silent.
Vi looks confused and surprised over how elaborate Caitlyn's imaginary friends were. When she plays with dolls with powder, they play simple fantasy stories, but something about Caitlyn's felt a bit too real.
"Sorry about that," Caitlyn tells Violet, "many of them can't handle even a second of uncleanness. This is Myla, Eliza, and Minianna, but you can ignore them, honestly. They love talking amongst themselves more anyway."
"Oh, sure," Violet nods before looking at the food, and her stomach growls with excitement. The sweet smell of apple pie, the soft and tender canele, the ever delicious croissant, but the tastiest meal were several pink cupcakes. A scrap of a chair snaps Violet out of her trance, and Caitlyn invites her to sit. Violet chuckles from how silly she might have looked and taken her seat, making Caitlyn giggle in excitement.
"I saw how you were staring at the food. Please help yourself," Caitlyn offered, and the moment she did, Violet grabbed every kind of bread, sandwiches, cheese, and so on and stuffed them down her mouth. Caitlyn briefly worried the poor girl would choke, but to her amazement, Violet gobbled down a steady stream of food and tea smoothly. While many people she knows would be disgusted at the gluttony displayed, Caitlyn can't help but find it cute and impressive.
She subconsciously scooted her tea and plate to Violet, who accepted it before bellowing a loud burp. "Phawww," she sighed, massively contempt with the food as she pats her belly, "that was amazing, and that's not even half of the food here."
"Heh, you're acting like that was the best food you ever had."
"That's because it was!"
"Really?"
"Hm-hmm! Especially the cupcakes, nothing in all the world is sweeter than them," Violet said with a real shine in her eyes that memorized Caitlyn with their passion.
"That's quite the compliment and surprising," she says, "To be honest, I got most of these from a little bakery, so most of the stuff here isn't really fancy."
"Any food is good food, no matter how fancy it is."
"Hehe, I suppose so," Caitlyn chuckles. The image of her parents' reaction to eating food considered 'lower class' was also incredibly amusing to her. She glances at Violet as she devours another cupcake before finally coughing from eating too fast. "Okay, time to slow down," Caitlyn giggles, patting her back and handing her water to clear her throat.
"Pheww, sorry, but I can't help it. This is the most food I have seen in months!"
Caitlyn gives a confused look, "Really? This is very small even for an afternoon's tea party."
"Uhh, nuh-uh, this is like a week's worth of food where I live," Violet says, which causes Caitlyn to gasp.
"You live off that little food?" she asks, "I-I'm so sorry. It is rude and ignorant of me to just shove this much at you so casually."
Violet shakes her head, "Oh n-no, it's okay. You're the first person up here in like forever to be so sweet."
She doesn't know why but the words and smile on Violet caused Caitlyn's cheeks to warm up. She covered them so as not to look silly while her heart bounced inside. 'Wow…' she thought, 'is she the coolest kid in piltover? Every word is genuine, not even a hint of condensation! Oh, how terrible her situation must be. Does she go hungry? I sure hope not.'
Not a second later, Violet was coughing again, this time from drinking tea too fast, causing some of it to fall on her shirt. "Oh dear," Caitlyn sighs, grabbing a towel to rub some of it off, "you always this clumsy?"
"Hey, I saw many of these plates were already half empty. You like stuffing your face too, princess!" Violet retorts with a sly smile.
Caitlyn gasps, "Princess?!"
"Uh-huh! Royal as fuck!"
Caitlyn gasps even louder, "you can't say that! It's a bad word. You'll be cursed!"
"Pffft! I can say whatever I want," Violet proclaimed with a proud grin as if saying the word made her stronger and older.
Her pride over such an awful word shocked and irked Caitlyn for such indecency…and yet it intrigued her. To have such freedom and confidence over a deviant action was something Caitlyn wished she had, why she couldn't even think of a bad word without her mother noticing. Caitlyn was as annoyed as she was envious of Violet's smug, prideful grin, but she also didn't want to back down. "Well, at least I didn't choke on my own food. This is probably karma for saying such things," she talks back.
Violet scoffs as if she heard far worse, "Geez, you're sounding more and more like my mom."
"And she'd be right," Caitlyn sighs before a thought pops in her head, "oh wait, were you with her before being chased? Is she looking for you?"
"Nu-uh, she's out doing important adult stuff with some big guy," Violet explains.
"Oh good," Caitlyn sighs, "still, you probably miss her, do you? You probably need to go home too, yes?"
Violet fidgeted in her seat, scratching her cheek as she told Cait, "Well…normally yeah, but I don't mind staying here with you, at least until the moon comes out."
Caitlyn hides her slight smile and asks, "Are you sure your mother won't worry?"
"Naww," Violet said confidently, "I just gotta hide the bandages. She's cool with me going out, though I sometimes have to bring my baby sis."
"You have a sibling?!" Caitlyn gasps, her eyes wide with envy.
"Yup! She's adorable, a bit shy, but sweet. Tho, she has problems keeping up."
"How?"
"She can't even jump from one roof to another even tho it's right in front of her. She also barely holds onto ledges for long."
Caitlyn jumped back slightly. The last thing she suspected to hear was Violet and her sister scaling buildings and leaping across roofs. "W-well, how old is she?"
"Almost seven."
"Heh, well, there you go. Your sister's too little."
"She can do it," Violet said with no doubt in her words. "I mean, I learned how to do this at six from my mom, who did it when she was as old as me."
"Quite a family tradition," Caitlyn says in slight awe. "Then, I suppose it is only a matter of time before your sister learns. Your mom also sounds amazing!"
"Uh-huh, she's the best mom ever," Violet proclaimed as if it were a fact. "Tho, your mom must be cool too if you're this nice and can fix people." Violet stops talking when Caitlyn rolls her eyes at the mention of her mother.
"Actually, it was my dad who taught me. He's a doctor. My mum, however, she is…."
Violet saw the pain in Caitlyn's blue eyes that she couldn't look away from. It was a new look but one she had seen before from kids with parents who shouted and drank. "She doesn't hit you, does she?" she asks, "I know kids whose parents do that…."
Caitlyn shakes her head, "no, though sometimes words can hurt just as much," she says, exhaling a deep sigh while slumping back in her seat.
Violet shrugs, "wanna talk about it?"
"No. What I wanna know is where you're from. Running from enforcers? Your tattered clothes? Leaping roofs? Not recognizing regular old bakery food? Not a single person in this city had had this happen to them."
Violet's expression shifts and the glow in her silver eyes fade as anger seeps in. "If I told you, would you hate me then?"
"Why would I hate you?" Caitlyn asks, tilting her head to show her confusion.
"Nevermind," Violet smiled before telling her, "I'm from a place called the undercity."
"Under…city?"
"Yeeaahh?" Violet stretched out, seeing the confusion in Caitlyn's eyes. "Do you not know the undercity?"
Caitlyn shakes her head, "I don't believe I have. Besides my tea parties, I only go out under my parent's supervision. Is this undercity what's across the sea strait and bridge?"
Violet, however, stayed stunned, her mind realizing just how much of a princess Caitlyn was. Imagining and dwelling on the amount of stuff this girl has, perhaps being the richest girl in the whole city, she felt a sense of disgust fester in her stomach over never knowing what hunger or struggle is. However, that naivety also showed Vi how innocent Caitlyn is and is why she's so kind. Whereas everyone here seems to want Violet arrested or act as if she's invisible, Caitlyn is the first to see her and care for her.
Violet nods, "Y-yeah, that's the place."
"And what is life like there?"
"Rough… it's just rough."
"Oh…" Caitlyn whispers before turning silent.
"But I do have friends. My mom and sister too, so I'm not alone."
Caitlyn thinks about her last word, almost chuckling at how they both have something the other desires. 'Even with a tough life, she's so nice. If it wasn't for my parents, I would do something about this,' she sighs.
Caitlyn sighs in frustration, "then it's even more stupid than the enforcers would shoot at you. You already have it hard enough."
"Yeah, it's super stupid," Violet says, exhaling a worried sigh and telling Caitlyn, "but I'm also a thief."
"What?"
"That's why I came here today. It's why I want my sister to learn stuff I learned. I want to help my family, and stealing seemed like a good idea," Violet reveals.
"But that's-!"
"It's what?" she asks with a defensive glare, "Wrong?"
Caitlyn wanted to say yes. Her upbringing and world demanded it. Stealing was always wrong, a petty crime by petty criminals. However, her heart is telling her that it's also the only way people could survive. "I… don't know," she sighs, slumping her head down to show how torn she is. "what is it anyway?"
Violet sighs, clearly not happy with her answer, before reaching into her pocket, "It's-" she stops and gasps. Pulling out two tiny dolls now reduced to just cotton. "Noo! But how?!"
Caitlyn looks at Violet's pants and sees another bullet hole missing her but tearing through the dolls. Violet looks back, realizing the same answer, before angrily throwing away the dolls. "Stupid enforcers!" she bellows passionately, seething in hate before a look of shame spreads across her face.
Caitlyn picks up the torn-off head, looking at it as she asks, "You stole these? They're only toys,"
"Yeah, for my sister!" Violet retorts, the last of her anger speaking out, "Some jerk stole ours, and we haven't been having as much fun because of it. So I thought stealing this would make things better. Not anymore tho."
"A toy…" Caitlyn ponders, turning back to the toy rabbit beside her and quickly grabbing it. "Then how about this?"
Violet looks up to see Caitlyn practically shoving the rabbit in her face. Still, she had to admit that it was a pretty rabbit. "That's yours tho," she hesitates.
"And I can buy a bajillion more like it…but you can't," Caitlyn kindly says, placing the rabbit in Violet's hand when an idea sparks. She grabs a pen and hands it to Violet, "here, you can even write your name to officially make it yours."
Violet ponders for a moment. The bit of pride within her was eager today to steal her first piltover item, something she still aims to do to help her family. This pride wanted to push this gift aside to earn her first prize. However, one look at Caitlyn's ocean blue eyes and the image of powder's happiness shoved it aside. She marked her name on one of the rabbit's ears before hugging it and feeling how soft it was. "Thank you, Caitlyn," whispers.
Caitlyn glows with a smile, "thank you for staying over, Violet." Then a light flare hits her eyes, and she turns to see the setting sun. The day was nearing its end, and their parents would soon ask where they were. Caitlyn closes her eyes, saddened at how cruelly fast time passed, and whispers, "you need to head home now, huh?"
Violet looks at the fading sun and nods, the same sadness in her eyes. "I-I can come back."
"To Piltover? Where do others look down on you? Where you could get shot?" Caitlyn says, "knowing fully well how little the people in this city will change their minds about others. They already see Violet as a deviant to this city, which will never change, especially with how things are now. "If they hurt you for stealing a toy, then…" she tries to say before spilling out the real reason, "You're my only real friend Violet, and I don't want to see you be hurt again."
Violet hugs the rabbit tightly, asking, "so, we can't see each other again?"
Caitlyn doesn't like false promises, not one bit. However, she'd also be lying if the thought of never seeing her first friend again wouldn't hurt her with each passing day. With a bit of hesitancy and hope, Caitlyn holds out her pinky and says, "If you really want to see me, then come here at noon on the first day of the weekend. Not a second later. I'll be waiting." She then whispers to Violet's ear, "this can be our secret little garden."
Violet blushed at the idea, and so did Caitlyn. Then, Violet straightens up her back and wraps her pinky around Caitlyn's, "it's a promise then."
Caitlyn smiles at Violet's cute declaration and follows her to the marble wall she entered. The main gate probably already has Caitlyn's carriage waiting for her. Besides, this is more fun. As Caitlyn Violet prepares to jump, she shouts, "Wait," before unclipping a hidden necklace tucked inside her dress. It was a Sapphire Crystal silver necklace.
Violet freezes when Caitlyn shows it to her and clips it around her neck, "something to remember me by," she told her. Violet nods, feeling her heart beat faster than ever from the sudden gift and Caitlyn's generosity. She turns around, frozen for a few seconds at what to do to say thanks before following her instincts and giving her a quick kiss on the lips.
Caitlyn felt that her face turned entirely red, words unable to form, and her eyes stuck on Violet hopping over the marble wall. "Goodbye, princess cupcake!" she waves before vanishing from view, her footsteps fading not too long after.
Caitlyn touched her lips, a small smile forming before squealing with rapturous joy, unlike anything she had felt before. Full of vigor and joy, Caitlyn laughs out, "Hehehe, goodbye, Violet!" She was probably already out of earshot, but Caitlyn didn't mind because she'll see her again, even if it took a hundred years.
She hears the calls of her butler. It was time to return to her own world. She looks up, a hand over her heart, and whispers, "See you again on a cool, spring day…."
(Six years later)-----------------
Caitlyn, adorned in a white and blue dress, tucks her long blue hair behind her ear. A wave of sadness washed over her, standing before the same garden gate and carrying a simple basket of tea and snacks. 'She won't come…' she tells herself. Wiser than she was years ago. 'She never will after the bridge attack. I don't blame her…we deserve nothing while they deserve justice.'
She mutters to herself with a pained heart, "Maybe I should just go…."
She turns away from the gate, steps forward, and pauses. A cold breeze passed, and she saw how the outside flowers bloomed. 'A cool, spring day…' she remembers. She turns around and opens the gates. Passing by the same tree, the same pond, and the same flowers until she reached the gazebo and saw a girl with pink hair waiting for her.
"Hey, princess…" Vi smiled, offering her hand, "Long time no see."
Caitlyn drops the basket and leaps into Violet's arms, tears streaming down her cheeks. Between her joyous hiccups and her arms shaking, Vi locks eyes with Cait before softly kissing her soft pink lips. Caitlyn gets lost in the kiss, feeling the world fade away until it's just them in their secret garden, never to be alone again.
A/N: I Thought I share a cute little story :) I love these two characters!