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Yue has never been a fighter. She would always admit it and though guilt always gripped at her heart like a vice, leaving her gasping for breath, she would still always flee if possible.
When Piltover had been ready to collapse and the Hexgates were about to be shut down for who knew how long, she took her decision the second she had seen the Enforcers setting up barricades all around the city.
She packed her things, looked back at her house one last time and ran, tail tucked between her legs, straight to the nearest car and to the Hexgates. Then, as she waited her turn to be teleported, she could only feel relief to know her mother was waiting for her elsewhere, that she was en route to safety, far away from all this mess and madness.
War? Defend? Lives at stake? Fight? Kill or be killed?
No, no, no, no.
As much as she loved Piltover and had made her life there for years now, painstakingly developing her business, she would not die in vain. She was too scared anyway. How could she wield a weapon if she trembled so much that the handle would just slip off her hands and crush her toes, effectively rendering her - and possibly the weapon - useless?
No. She would not risk it.
And thus she flew like the coward she was.
She hid, she escaped Piltover, and she lived happily in her mother's abode far, far away from this bloodshed. From time to time, she would check the news, her eyes dragging towards the column usually destined to Piltover's latest gossip, but nothing ever mentioned the city anymore. It had been the case for several months now.
It was as if it had been razed down to the ground, and she feared the worst, clutching the newspapers in one hand, her fork in the other and trying her damnest not to soil her dress with the sauce of today's dinner.
She knew nothing of Piltover for almost a year.
That was, until she heard from a merchant as she made her way to the local market: Piltover was rebuilding itself. At last, some news! She could have cried in joy.
Somehow, despite the city having been taken over and its walls and buildings destroyed almost in its entirety, Piltover had stood its ground. The Hexgates had been rebuilt, or at least, a part of it, apparently. It was unable to send or receive people from afar and could only be used by a small amount of cargo every day, but it was functional. How delightful those news were! She also heard that the city was slowly recreating itself, from the bottom to the top. Immediately, a feeling of hope surged within her.
And packed her things she did the very next day. She kissed her mother goodbye and took the last ticket to Piltover, excitement buzzing through her veins. She had been scared of not being able to come back home before the next month, as only a few select ships could still use the Hexgates, but it seemed as if the war brewing there had terrified and still scared a majority of people from re-entering the city. Yue almost rolled her eyes but refrained from doing so, deciding to play with her sleeves as she waited her turn to be teleported back to Piltover, dizzy with happiness at the prospect of seeing her city again.
And indeed, when she arrived, Yue almost gasped in shock and sadness.
The city had indeed rebuilt itself, but a huge side of the upper city still remained destroyed where the Noxians had launched their attack and breached the entryway with their catapults and army. As a young lass, she had marvelled at the beauty of Piltover and had boldly said the city was like an invincible castle. Her opinion never wavered as years passed by, watching the city flourish and evolve with the emergence of Hextech, becoming one of the most powerful cities in the world.
Now though, it looked like a shadow of its former glory and Yue felt tears welling up in her eyes. Not that she felt herself worthy of sadness. She had, after all, fled as soon as she was permitted and never looked back, even as some of her colleagues and acquaintances stayed to defend Piltover, their eyes full of disappointment at the sight of her suitcase and lowered chin. But the guilt she had managed to hush came doubling over and she could only skitter around, almost skipping her steps as she rushed towards her house.
She knew it was still intact, she had heard on the news that the Noxian army had been mostly focused on Piltover's inner-city and that army of… modified people - were they even human anymore? - transformed everyone in their passage into white husks, but did not destroy any building, focusing only on breathing, living people. How dreadful, all of it, she thought.
The streets were not too crowded but she still staggered around, looking around as if it was the first time she saw the city. She looked at the sky and marvelled at the blue and white in it, content to breathe the fresh air of Piltover and trying to wash away her feeling of uneasiness and stifling guilt.
She was so lost in her thoughts that she did not realise she was walking straight into someone until she crashed against a sturdy chest. Though it seemed the other stood on unsteady feet, as said person grunted, putting their hands on her shoulders in a flash to support her. Still, it was not enough: one of their legs gave out under Yue's weight and they came crashing down the side of the street. Thankfully for her - she did not have any reflexes whatsoever and she could have hurt herself very much so -, the man had cushioned her fall and took the brunt of the impact for the both of them in a pained gasp.
Blinking away her amazement and shock, but mostly feeling humiliated and ashamed, she quickly stood up and, patting herself and her skirt, she stammered an apology. The man only groaned and put a hand behind his head, his hood coming off with the movement, while the other shot up to his leg.
“Are you alright?” A soft voice behind Yue asked, and she bit down a frightened shriek as she bolted around, gripping at her bag like a makeshift weapon.
She was met with a second hooded figure and was surprised to see they almost had the same height, even without her usual heels. It was almost shocking to be able to look at someone without having to look up, she immediately thought, but crushed that quip inside her mouth before it got outside. She was about to open her mouth and apologize once again when the second figure walked past her, ignoring her spluttering entirely and instead, kneeled near the other man she had crashed into and who was still lying on the floor.
“I'm fine,” the first person said through gritted teeth and obviously not fine.
Although both were clad in dark robes, a hood supposedly hiding their faces, only the second person's was obscured, the bottom of their visage concealed by shadows.
The first one probably had his on too, before his fall. However, when they had crashed against each other, the first man's hood had fallen off his shoulders, revealing tan skin and brown hair that reached the end of his bearded chin. His features were contorted in repressed pain as he seemed to clutch his left thigh with his hands. It was only then that Yue realised the mechanisms that hugged the brown-haired's leg, the top of it obviously crooked and concave from where he had fallen against the sidewalk.
“You do not look fine, we should—”
“Give me a minute and I'll be able to stand, that is nothing compared to—”
“You should not even feel pain anymore, we should— We are well past that,” the hooded figure cut him off in a frustrated tone, his accent cutting his words almost bitingly so despite the comforting hand he had placed on the man's shoulder, massaging it slowly as if trying to push the pain away with the sheer power of his mind, “I told you we shouldn't have come this early, you are still injured and unwell. Your body needs rest.”
With each word he seemed to try and poke a hole inside the other's chest with his other hand. However, seeing said man's eyes flash with indignation and opening his mouth to probably retort, Yue stupidly blurted out quickly to avoid any sort of confrontation: “I'm so sorry. If… if you need somewhere to rest, my house is near and I am sure I can find some food if you ever need? This is my fault after all…”
Both persons turned their heads towards her as if finally realising she was there and her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. She fought against her want to tuck her chin in her chest and let her hair hide her face from the men's scrutinising eyes.
A second passed as they seemed to take in her proposal and the man who she had crashed into removed a hand from his leg to wave at her in a ‘don't worry’ gesture, his face relaxing into a bright smile. The transition from absolute pain to a reassuring and carefree expression was almost frightening and… painfully artificial, as if practised a thousand times already.
“No need to worry miss, we will—”
“Take your offer, if you would be so kind,” said the hooded figure over his companion, bowing his head slightly in what Yue could only interpret as relief.
His movement allowed Yue to see the look of surprise and indignation in the brown-haired man's eyes, though he froze his smile before it could collapse into a frown. Instead, he turned his head towards his partner and loudly half whispered, half hissed, “I am fine!”
The other only looked back and with a soft but determined voice, he said: “You are not,” and as if on second thought, he added a small “Please.”
It seemed to work like magic and the man's raised shoulders immediately slumped, his indignant expression melting like butter to be replaced with one of regret, then resignation. He sighed, eyes downcast, then looked once more at his companion, tentatively smiled a bit, then turned his head towards Yue, who was wringing her hands in front of her and feeling like an outsider who should have never stumbled upon such a scene. Maybe she was. No, scratch that, she totally was. She always had a knack for those things and anyway, it was her fault if the man had injured himself while falling, she supposed.
“Sorry to bother you then, I'd actually appreciate a moment of rest and food would always be welcomed,” the man said in a cheerful tone that contrasted with his still clutched leg, his fingers white from the force of his grip.
“Uh, of, of course! Can you uh… walk? Or do you need help perhaps? It's really close, just two streets from here, really,” she stammered.
The man waved at her reassuringly and muttered something that sounded very much like a ‘I've had worse’ - which made the hooded man snort -, before putting both his hands on the pavement and slowly moving around, trying not to jostle his injured leg too much.
The hooded figure stayed close, a hand always on the man's shoulder as some sort of mental support and his other hand stretched in front of him for the other to take. Once he was properly sitting and not in a slumped position anymore, the man took the offered hand and with great effort, pulled at it while at the same time forcing his good leg to bend and then push his whole body upwards. His left leg, the bad one, followed suit in a cacophony of broken metal as the contraption was forced to straighten itself. He finally let himself fall against the smaller man's shoulder, letting the other take most of his weight despite him being at least twice larger than the smaller one.
“You should have taken your cane, I told you it would hurt more than anything for a long time,” the hooded figure muttered as he looked up at his panting companion.
“Blasted thing, I've seen enough canes for two entire lifetimes already,” the man simply grumbled back.
From such an angle, the sun could barely touch the smaller man's cheeks, but Yue could see the blazing amber eyes that shone as he looked at his companion and the trace of burnt flesh on either side of his cheek. Feeling her gaze, his eyes snapped towards her and seeing her look his way, he quickly bowed his head back, letting his hood cover his face once more.
Yue turned her head to the side in guilt as well, chastised.
It felt as if she had seen something she should not have.
“This way,” she murmured and she began to walk again towards her house, the two men trailing behind, one mostly dragging the other.
She slowed her pace, not wanting to lose them and looked back once in a while to make sure they had not suddenly disappeared. Both their cloaks bellowed with the afternoon wind and they talked in hushed tones, so low Yue could not hear anything apart from a chuckle from the bigger man, and a huff from the other.
She wondered who those people were and what she was embarking herself in.
She would have never behaved like that before Piltover's fall. She would probably have profusely apologised, maybe given some money for them to buy whatever medicine they needed if it was revealed they had injured themselves, and then bolted out of the street as if her shoes had taken fire. She would have never offered two complete strangers a break inside her house and food from her probably empty closet - thank gods she had thought of bringing food with her inside her suitcase, courtesy of her mother, she always was so worried about her eating habits, bless her -.
Though maybe, as she looked once again back at the duo, who were supporting each other and walked ever so slowly, each step synchronised and smiling softly at each other, Yue guessed she owed them that much at the very least.
It was clear the two of them had participated in the Piltover's last defence line against the Noxians. The hooded man's cheeks had been burnt while the taller man's forehead sported four strange oval shape scars, as big as fingertips. She had heard of the white skeletons - or whatever it had been - running everywhere in the city and grasping people's foreheads, their faces melting as soon as they were touched. The man had probably managed to escape by the skin of his teeth and now would forever be reminded of what he had faced, what he probably had lost in the fight for his life.
So yes, Yue probably owed them. Not in a true literal sense, it was for a more selfish reason.
She supposed if she helped those two, maybe her guilt over escaping Piltover unscathed, while others had… sacrificed themselves to protect this city. Maybe she would feel better, lighter.
As she and the two hunched figures made their way towards her house, Yue was at least certain of two things.
First, whatever had transpired in Piltover and however scarred both men seemed to be, they looked happy in each other's embrace. Although one dragged his leg more than he walked, he seemed to look at the smaller figure fondly and as if his whole world revolved around his partner. Several times already, the smaller man had to quickly deviate their route as the taller man nearly once again walked straight into something, the man too busy talking animatedly to the other, waving his arms and fingers simulating whatever he was saying. And though the hooded person's face was never revealed, Yue could see his love seeping through his gesture and worried words, as teasing and scathing as they may be. He always had a hand on the other's chest or arm, both to reassure the other of his presence but also maybe to make sure the taller man was there with him. He would also gently tug at his clothes once in a while, always making sure to take most of the man's weight without a single complaint and always looking at his companion without fail, nodding once in a while to whatever he was saying.
And the second thing she was certain about: she knew that whatever they had sacrificed, however much they had to leave behind, it was worth it.
She looked at the city above her and the almost collapsing but still standing inner city of Piltover, and she knew fighting for this, for this peace, this freedom, all of this.
All had been worth it.
Yue could only look again at the pair and thank them from the bottom of her heart.
.
.
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