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Vi sat in the large armchair near the fireplace, the soft crackle of the flames filling the otherwise silent room. The orange glow danced across her scarred face as she swirled the amber liquid in her glass, lost in thought.
Caitlyn entered the room, her delicate footsteps quiet against the floor. She carried her own drink, although she hadn’t taken a sip. Instead, she was watching Vi carefully, studying her posture, the tension in her shoulders, her faraway gaze into the fire. Caitlyn approached quietly, sitting down in the chair opposite Vi.
The quiet presence of Caitlyn brought Vi out of her thoughts and back to the present. She glanced up and gave Caitlyn a small smile. Caitlyn felt a soft tug in her heart when she noticed it wasn’t the type of genuine smile that reached her eyes.
Though they hadn’t spent more than a week or two together, Caitlyn had come to understand Vi’s silences, the unspoken emotions that simmered beneath the surface. She knew better than to push. Instead, she elected to sit quietly next to Vi, taking small sips of her drink, waiting to see if Vi would let her in.
"I talked to Ekko the other day," Vi said, finally breaking the silence. Her voice was low, almost hesitant.
"Hmm?" Caitlyn raised an eyebrow, taking a small sip from her glass but saying nothing more. Her eyes were trained on Vi, but Vi’s gaze remained fixed on the swirling liquid in her glass.
"He told me about this alternate world. One where I’m not around, and the Undercity is thriving. Prosperous. My sister was there… and she’s still Powder.”
Vi paused, the weight of her words pressing down on her. She hesitated, like the next part scared her more than anything she’d ever said before. “I guess she never became Jinx, because I never got the chance to hurt her." Her voice faltered; her expression unreadable.
Caitlyn could feel her heart ache. She wanted to reach out, to pull Vi closer and comfort her, but she couldn’t —Vi needed her space right now, and Caitlyn knew that. Instead, she rested her hand gently on Vi’s knee, the small touch an unspoken show of support.
Vi covered Caitlyn’s hand with her own, the warmth of the touch grounding her. "I guess it’s nice to know," Vi continued, her voice softer now, "that there’s another world out there where Powder is still alive. Somewhere out there where she’s happy." Vi shifted her gaze to look slightly up at Caitlyn’s, a look of genuine vulnerability and softness.
Caitlyn considered her words carefully. Vi’s soft eyes were urging Caitlyn to utter endless assurances to Vi about her sister, but Caitlyn was careful not to open up old wounds. A thought flashed across her mind to tell Vi about her research, that her sister might have escaped beneath the tunnels and taken an airship out of the city. Caitlyn considered, but decided against it, preferring not to be responsible for giving her a hope that could be ripped away by an unforgiving truth. Instead, she elected to keep the tone light, rubbing Vi’s hand with her thumb as she asked, “So what am I doing in this alternate world?”
Vi let out a soft chuckle, a rare sound that momentarily eased the heaviness in the room. "You know, he never told me. I guess Ekko didn’t really go looking for you.”
Caitlyn feigned shock, withdrawing her hand from Vi’s knee and placing it dramatically over her chest. “How dare he?” she teased, her voice playful.
Vi’s smile was a genuine one now, and Caitlyn felt her heart swell at the intimacy of it, proud that she had brought some small moment of comfort to Vi.
“You know?” Vi said, her voice thoughtful, “I wondered that too. Where’d you be if you never met me? If you never had to deal with Silco, or all that fucked up shit with Viktor?" Vi swirled her glass again, her voice now laced with a hint of something unrecognizable to Caitlyn. "I bet you’d be cozied up with some rich Piltoverian social climber.”
Caitlyn smiled faintly at the remark. If only Vi could understand how completely she’d changed Caitlyn’s world. Caitlyn wasn’t the same person as when she’d met Vi —naïve, sheltered, lost. What she was now was someone who had learned to be brave, to follow her heart, and someone who had seen the truth of the Undercity. No words could ever describe that feeling, but Caitlyn tried her best.
“I don’t know where I’d be without this purpose I have now.” Caitlyn said thoughtfully, leaning in towards Vi unconsciously while she spoke. “This is the thing that’s guided me, that’s given me purpose. It’s made me who I am.” Caitlyn was close now, and she could feel her breath hitch a bit at the intimacy. “It’s the challenges we face that make us who we are.”
Another glimpse of Vi’s smile danced across her face, though this one faded as quickly as it had come. Vi withdrew, leaning back in her chair, her free hand rubbing the back of her neck. "I guess that’s why Zaun and Piltover are in such deep shit in a world where I’m still alive. It’s my choices that brought us here. It was my decision to go on that job that night."
Caitlyn remained leaned towards Vi, not afraid to withdraw. However, her brow furrowed as she asked, "What job are you referring to?"
Vi’s jaw tightened, and she stared into the flames, as if searching for answers within their flickering light. "A few years ago," she began slowly. "This is how it all started. When we broke into Jayce’s lab and found those Hextech crystals."
Caitlyn’s lips parted in surprise. "That was you?” Caitlyn scoffed. “You know, I was just on the other side of that door," Caitlyn ruminated on the memory.
Vi responded curiously, "You were there?"
"Oh yes.” Caitlyn replied. “I was toddling behind Jayce. He was going to show me one or another of his inventions. I can hardly recall, now. It seems like a lifetime ago now, doesn’t it?"
“I wonder if there’s another world where we met in that moment. If the job had gone differently. Maybe you would have caught me. Maybe we could have been friends.” Now it was Vi who had leaned forward, as if drawn to the warmth and confidence of Caitlyn’s presence.
Caitlyn shook her head, a smile tugging at her lips. "You know, I don’t think we would have been friends."
Vi raised an eyebrow, a teasing edge returning to her voice. "Oh really? You wouldn’t be caught dead with a sump-rat like me being friends with you, is that it?"
Caitlyn leaned in closer, the distance between them almost nonexistent now. She could feel the warmth of Vi’s breath brushing against her skin, the tension building in the air.
“I was too obsessed with what my mother thought.” Caitlyn admitted, her eyes flicking to Vi’s lips, the scar that ran across it, and then back up to Vi’s eyes. “It took me a long time to realize that it only matters what I want.” Caitlyn could sense a heat from Vi—something that felt like lust, or maybe love, though Caitlyn wasn’t quite sure which.
Vi’s pupils had dilated as Caitlyn spoke. When Caitlyn had finished, Vi had reached up, cupping Caitlyn’s cheek gently, looking as if she was deciding whether or not to kiss her.
“I guess I’m still figuring that out.” Vi murmured, her voice soft and intimate.
Caitlyn closed the distance before she could stop herself, her lips pressing gently against Vi’s. Their kiss was slow, soft – a reminder of the care and comfort that existed between the two of them. It was soft and sweet, an unspoken promise shared between them.
When they finally pulled apart, Caitlyn rested her forehead against Vi’s, her breath shallow. “I wouldn’t want to be in any world without you, Violet,” she whispered.
The fire crackled quietly in the background, the only quiet witness to the bond deepening between them.