Work Text:
Valoran looks nice like this, Vi thinks, swathed in snow and speeding by out the window of the train. Quiet, peaceful. The sun is covered by gray clouds but it lights up the western horizon with pale golds and pinks where the light peeks through, signaling the oncoming night. The glass on the window fogs lightly and she rubs her sleeve against it, laying her head against her forearms and letting her eyes unfocus to watch the scenery slipping by outside.
She’s only a little nervous. It feels silly to be nervous at all, but it’s almost been a year since she’s seen her sister. Anyone would be nervous in her shoes, probably. She can only manage to sit still for a few minutes. Then she sits up again and checks her phone, verifying for the fifth time in an hour the arrival time of the train at the Noxus U station.
Maybe it was a mistake to make this a surprise. She’d thought about offering to come to Noxus and ride the train home with Jinx, but she’d been able to picture exactly how that conversation would’ve gone. Jinx would’ve turned her down – “It’s too long of a ride for you to make both ways. I’ll be fine.” But Vi knew her sister. She’d say no, no matter how much she wanted company, and Vi couldn’t stand the thought of her being alone and lonely on an eight hour train through the night. That would be a shit deal in the best of circumstances, and it only went downhill from there considering everything that had led up to the train ride being necessary in the first place.
Vi’d had a few lingering doubts over going to surprise Jinx, most of which she’d been able to shove away and reason her way out of. But of course now, of all times, they choose to come flooding back in.
Maybe Jinx will just want to be alone. Maybe she’ll prefer not to have her sister around for the entire eight hour train ride. Maybe Vi is about to find out she’s made a huge mistake now that it’s too late to undo.
Maybe, maybe, maybe.
Vi puts her phone down, letting her head drop back against the headrest. She’s only thirty minutes away now. If Jinx doesn’t want to see her, Vi can sit in another car entirely for the ride back home and they can both pretend this never happened. Her phone buzzes and she picks it up, swiping the message app open.
Caitlyn : How’s it going?
Vi types out a quick response.
Vi : It’s going. Only a half hour out
Caitlyn : You excited?
Vi : Excited. Nervous. What if she doesn’t want me here?
Caitlyn : She’ll want you there. Trust me.
Vi : Okay but when she tells me to get out of her life forever, I’m blaming you.
Caitlyn : Deal
Vi snorts quietly, carding her fingers through her hair, watching the message bubble pop up again.
Caitlyn : You’re a good sister. She’s going to be so glad that you came, even if she doesn’t say so right away. Okay?
Vi : Okay. Okay, you’re right.
Caitlyn : Good. Text me once you’re on your way back. I’ll be at the station first thing in the morning.
Vi : I will. I love you
Caitlyn : I love you, too
When the train arrives at the station, Vi disembarks, pulling her backpack over her shoulder as she checks her phone. Jinx’s train back to Zaun will be leaving platform 6 in twenty minutes. It takes her a moment to get her bearings, but she finds the platform without too much trouble.
Jinx is easy to spot with her teal blue hair. She sits half-slumped in one of the platform seats, looking down at her phone, scrolling in a rhythm that tells Vi she’s not even really absorbing what’s on her screen. Her two large trunks sit near her knees. She looks so forlorn and dejected, her shoulders narrow even in her winter coat, Vi feels her heart squeeze. She crosses the platform, stopping just a few paces short of where Jinx sits. Jinx doesn’t move, doesn’t even know Vi is there. She looks exhausted, the bags under her eyes darker than usual, and a little swollen from what’s probably a wicked crying hangover.
“Heading north?” Vi says.
Jinx looks up on instinct, but Vi can tell she hasn’t recognized her voice because her expression is flat even as she meets Vi’s eyes. Then Jinx blinks, her brows lifting as realization crosses her face.
“Vi?” she says. Her voice is raspier than usual.
“Hey, Pow,” Vi says softly, using the nickname that only family is allowed to say anymore.
Jinx looks mildly transfixed, like the words are coming out of her before her brain can catch up to them. “What are you doing here?”
Vi shrugs, glancing toward the tracks that will take them both back to Zaun. “Thought you could use some company.”
When she looks at Jinx again, there are tears gleaming in those big blue eyes. Vi blinks, stammers. “If…listen, if you don’t want me here, I can sit in a separate car. I just wanted to make sure you got home safe and–”
The air whooshes out of her in a grunt as Jinx collides with her, squeezing her in a hug so tight Vi wonders for a moment if Jinx has been lifting while she’s been away at school. She returns the hug, wrapping her arms around Jinx’s wiry frame as her shoulders begin shuddering with fresh sobs. Jinx doesn’t say anything for a long time, but that’s okay. Vi holds her, feeling deeply relieved that her coming here wasn’t a mistake after all.
When Jinx finally speaks, her voice is squeaky with broken emotions, muffled against Vi’s shirt. “I’m glad you’re here,” she says.
“Me too, kid,” Vi says, and she means it.
***
They don’t talk much. That’s fine by Vi. Jinx seems so worn out, she doesn’t want to make it worse by asking for too many details before she’s ready to talk about it. When the food cart comes around, Vi orders herself something, and then gestures for Jinx to order too. Jinx tries to protest, but Vi insists.
“My treat,” she says. “Get anything you want.”
Jinx orders, but she forgoes a dessert. Vi knows her sister’s sweet tooth, and she orders a brownie before the cart moves on, sliding it over to Jinx’s side with a wink. Jinx rolls her eyes, but once she’s done with her meal, she eats the brownie too.
After that, Jinx spends most of the time staring out the window, but she’s nestled almost unconsciously against Vi’s side, and that alone is enough for Vi to know that her presence here matters.
The sun has set when Jinx, eyes still trained on the darkened window and its shadowed shapes rushing by outside, asks, “Is everyone disappointed in me?”
“No one is disappointed in you, Pow.” Jinx snorts at that, and Vi nudges her with a shoulder. “I’m serious. It sucks, sure, but no one thinks it’s your fault. Shit happens, you know?”
“Only to me.”
“That’s not true.”
“I finally get the chance to go to college, first in the family, and I fucking blow it. Only I could fuck something up that royally without even trying.”
“Jinx. Look at me.”
Jinx doesn’t move. Vi nudges her again. “Hey.”
A tear slips down Jinx’s cheek, and Vi doesn’t insist. She leans against the table, resting her chin on her forearms, watching the outside speed by darkly. “Everyone is so fucking proud of you.” Jinx makes a small, disbelieving sound, and Vi glances at her sideways. “I mean it. You made it through two whole years of college, more than any of the rest of us ever managed. It’s a lot of pressure. A lot of pressure. I probably would’ve had a mental breakdown well before now. The fact you held out this long is amazing.” Jinx smiles, just a little, and ruefully, but Vi thinks it still counts for something. “And once you get your feet under you again, if you decide you want to come back, we’ll all support that. But if you never even think about school again, that would be okay. You’ve got a great brain, but there’s lots of things you can do with that. School isn’t everything, you know?”
Jinx is quiet for a long time, but she wipes her cheeks with the back of her hand after a while, and she says, “‘Kay,” and Vi puts her arm around her shoulders and pulls her in and kisses the top of her head.
Jinx falls asleep with her head on Vi’s lap, her legs curled up on the bench, her braids draped over her body in loops. She sleeps deeply, her breaths long and slow, and Vi wonders how long it's been since she slept this well. She pulls her phone out of her pocket.
Vi: Coming to get her was a good idea.
Caitlyn: I could’ve told you that
***
Caitlyn is there waiting as promised the next morning, pulled up to the curb already as Vi and Jinx emerge from the station and looking remarkably fresh considering the sun hasn’t even risen yet. She holds her arms out to Jinx and Jinx steps into them willingly, letting Caitlyn fold her into an embrace. Jinx looks exceptionally tiny against Caitlyn’s tall frame as they sway a little on the spot together. They’re still standing there even after Vi has finished loading up Jinx’s trunks, and Caitlyn has her head bowed and Vi can see her murmuring something to Jinx. Jinx nods with her cheek against Caitlyn’s chest, her eyes closed, replying with short sounds that Vi can’t quite make out the details of.
She can’t help but smile a little seeing her wife and her sister like this, faster friends than Vi would have ever guessed would be possible based on the explosive nature of their initial relationship. Now, it almost seems like Jinx is happier to see Caitlyn than she was to see Vi. Vi makes a mental note to pretend to be upset about that later.
Caitlyn talks on the ride home. She tells Jinx all about the latest goings-on, even things Jinx probably knows about from social media. It’s her way of welcoming Jinx back, filling her in on details she missed, personal anecdotes, gripes and complaints about petty things at work. It’s an easing of tension, a filling of silence, a chance for Jinx to just sit back and listen if she wants to, no questions asked.
Vi shows Jinx to the guest room once they’re back at the apartment, setting her bags inside the closet to unpack when she’s ready.
“Make yourself at home, okay?” Vi says. “The guest bathroom is all yours, I stocked it up with that shampoo you like but you let me know if you need anything else. You hungry?”
Jinx sits on the edge of the bed, looking worn out. “Just tired, mostly.”
Vi nods. “You sleep then, for as long as you want.” She squeezes Jinx’s shoulder, then goes to the door. “Love you, Jinx.”
“Love you, too.”
***
Jinx doesn’t emerge from her room until well into the afternoon, looking bleary and sleep-worn. Vi is in the kitchen, mixing up dutch baby batter, and Jinx curls up on one of the barstools, tucking her skinny legs into her oversized hoodie as she blinks the sleep from her eyes.
“Hey,” Vi says.
“Hey.” Jinx’s voice is cracked and tired but she smiles, just a little, squinting at Vi.
“How’d you sleep?”
“Amazing, actually.”
“Glad to hear it. Hungry?”
“Starving.”
“These will be done in another twenty minutes, if you can wait that long.”
“I’ll probably starve to death before then, actually.”
“Bummer,” Vi says sympathetically. “I’ll have to drag your corpse to The Last Drop then, I guess.”
Jinx blows a low raspberry between her lips. “Vander’s really chomping at the bit, huh?”
“He’s just excited to see you.”
“I’ll bet,” Jinx says unenthusiastically. “Excited to ask me what my plan is now that my brain ruined college for me.”
“Hey,” Vi says gently. “He is not.”
“You don’t know that.”
“What doesn’t Vi know?” Caitlyn asks as she comes into the kitchen. She gives Jinx a kiss on the side of her head, flipping her floof of hair playfully.
“Lots,” Vi answers first. “Like why I’d make dutch babies for my sister if she was gonna give me a hard time today.”
“Dutch babies?” Jinx says, sounding shocked. It seems her sleep-addled state kept her from recognizing what Vi was making. “Oh my god. I take it all back. I’ll see Vander. I’ll see anyone you want. Anything for dutch babies.”
“That’s what I thought,” Vi laughs.
***
Jinx is quiet on the car ride to The Last Drop. It’s early enough in the afternoon that it’s not yet open for business, but Vander will be there, making last minute preparations. Vi texts him once they’re on their way. Music plays softly from the radio, but in the rearview mirror Vi watches as Jinx’s body language becomes more and more subdued and tense the closer they get to their final destination. She wants to reassure her, tell her everything will be fine, but she knows her words would just fall into the mess of Jinx’s anxious thoughts, so she stays quiet, settles for throwing a quick wink Jinx’s way when they make brief eye contact. She smiles a little and Vi can’t ask for more.
They go in through the back door, Vi letting Jinx take the lead as she winds through the empty back hall and into the main bar area.
As they emerge, a collective shout greets them.
“Welcome home!”
Jinx stops, her body language stunned, as the cry goes up. Everyone is here, just as planned – Sevika, Benzo, Vander, Ekko, Mylo, Claggor. Ekko wanted to invite more, but Vi had argued that too many people might be overwhelming, and most everyone had agreed. As it is now, Jinx’s family stands in a small semi-circle underneath a homemade banner that reads WELCOME HOME, JINX, decorated tastefully with bright splashes of Jinx’s signature pinks and blues. Mylo and Ekko hold a cake that someone, probably Ekko, did their best drawing of Jinx’s face on, with a messily scrawled WE LOVE JINX adorning it in only slightly smudged icing. Even Sevika is wearing a pointy party hat, which looks hilarious perched atop her standard cut-off t-shirt and ripped jeans bartender getup.
“You guys,” Jinx says in a hushed voice once the initial roar has died down. She opens her mouth, but seems at a loss for words and closes it again, pressing her hands against her cheeks.
Vi puts an arm around her shoulder bracingly. “You okay?” she murmurs, her voice low enough that no one else will hear.
“Yeah,” Jinx says softly, nodding. “Yeah I’m okay.” Then, to the gathered group, “You didn’t have to do this for me.”
“Sure we did,” Mylo says.
“Don’t be stupid,” Ekko says at the same time.
“We really missed you, Pow,” Claggor chimes in.
Vander comes forward, and Vi steps back as he encloses Jinx in a burly hug, pressing a long kiss to the top of her braids.
“We’re glad you’re home,” he rumbles softly. Jinx buries her face in his chest, her shoulders trembling a little with what Vi recognizes as renewed tears. When the trembling subsides and Jinx pulls back a little, swiping at her eyes, Vander takes her face in his hands, looking at her with a firmness Vi recognizes. “We are so bloody proud of you, kiddo,” he says, and the meaning in his voice resonates around the room. “You did your best. You get to rest now.”
She nods, and he pulls her back under his arm as he turns to the others.
“Right,” he says. “Who wants cake?”