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He was merely a comet who'd wandered into her orbit, forever wading within the cosmic tides that bound him there. To say he’d been “smitten” wasn’t right, rather he came spiraling, crashing into a frontier of newfound emotions, hesitant and yearning for every greeting, every sly stroke of the hand, every smile. For years, he maintained course through what seemed a never-ending dance of “will they or won’t they,” forever circling each other yet not quite within one’s reach. Mel was focused, attuned to the ways and various playbooks of what Jayce deemed a rabid circus of political actors. And while Jayce was no fool, he rarely understood the need for fake pleasantries and appeals to emotions, which is why despite his “golden boy” status for introducing hextech to the world, he was still deemed “unwelcomed” when standing amongst the elite of Piltover.
Yet one day, he found his course changed. Without warning, he'd become awash in the light of her world and what Mel touched was adorned with every ounce of warmth and brilliance that neither man nor woman seemed capable of outshining.
But what was he? There was a time he thought he knew the answer. A scientist. A son. The Man of Tomorrow. Of progress. So many titles were placed upon him, yet only when they were destroyed did he realize his mistakes. Years of research, of late nights in his lab, of fighting tooth and nail with the council, all thrown into an abyss of uncertainty. And himself, forever bound to destinies never chosen. All his life he sought what couldn’t be explained. It alienated him. Nearly destroyed him. And now he stood, broken, aged, but still, one thing remained throughout the madness.
Jayce heard the first knock, then the second. He leaped upwards, steadily moving towards the door of his quarters before yanking it open.
"Mel," his voice quivered like a worshiper who'd forgotten the name of his god.
"Jayce?” Mel spoke, her voice low and pained. “No, it can’t be they said…” She glanced along the empty shore, a scowl forming along her lips. “Why did I believe...I shouldn’t have come here, this is clearly another—“
“Mel, I swear it’s me.” Jayce raised his hands. “I can barely believe it myself, but I swear to you, I’m no illusion.”
Mel made another sweeping glance around her before peering up at Jayce, studying his features with all the diligence of a long-lost piece of art. Meanwhile, he’d done the same, counting the flecks of gold that waltzed along her cheeks, her eyes, still the color of green, sun-kissed fields.
“Mel, please,” Jayce begged as he kept his arms upward, refusing to lower them until he knew she felt safe. He couldn’t afford for this to go wrong. Not again. Finally…
“It…it really is you,” she said with just a drop of relief.
“Will you come inside?” It was less of a command and more of a plea.
Mel takes a deep breath, holds it, then exhales. “Ok,” she said. Then, with all the caution of a lioness, enters the dimly lit cabin.
Five days. That’s the time it took Jayce to arrive in Rokrund via Piltover. After an onslaught of tears and possible flesh-eating allegations from Vi, Caitlyn showed him the letters Mel had written to her, assuming it to be her current residence and where he would settle himself to find her, which hadn't taken him long, as the Medardas were well known throughout the coastal settlement. He hadn’t expected Mel to believe his letter of arrival, nor take time to meet him in the cabin he’d let near the coast. As days went on, Jayce’s head reeled with questions. Would it be best to visit her? Allow her to process his return? Was it wrong to expect her to come to him? Maybe he should go to her? For hours, he sat immobilized, doubting his convictions. He’d come so far, so why now did he refuse to move? Maybe it was best he returned to Piltover and never bother Mel again, yet just as the final sun set on his hopes was when she appeared before him.
“When I received the letter written in your handwriting,” Mel said, her stride rigid, “it wasn’t relief that I felt. In fact, I thought it someone plotting to deceive me yet again, even more so when not once was I granted a visit.”
Jayce hunched his shoulders and sighed. “I…wasn’t sure if I should wait here or come to you on my own. Honestly, I was being a coward.”
Mel hummed. “Old habits die hard, I suppose. After all, it took seven years the first time. Had I allowed you the option, it probably would’ve taken seven more.”
He gave a slight chuckle, though the honesty of her remark wounded him.
“To be honest, I’d come here with every intention of killing the person inside, if need be. However…” Mel perched herself on one of the cabin’s wooden chairs, crossing her legs. “I’m glad this wasn’t the case.”
To hear her have no qualms about killing was a bit of a whiplash for Jayce, yet not one he had the right to judge. Instead, he took in her form. Time had only added to her beauty, yet it was clear Noxus was taking its toll. He knew the fatigue and pain that came with battle better than anyone, yet unlike him, who'd been dirtied from it, Mel sat with all the grace of a leader. And the Arcane, the magic which he sought all his life, that he barely survived, aligned her body in brilliant gold, a sight he couldn’t help but wince from, the trials of his past ever haunting. Yet he would not lose himself again to fear, or Mel lose herself to power. That he knew.
"You've...changed,” he said. Such a simple observation was all he could manage, for the moment.
"I have. And you as well,” Mel responded. He could see how her eyes trailed him, and for a moment, he felt small, if only due to not knowing what they held, yet if there was one thing he could tell was that her body no longer tightened in his presence. She’d relaxed herself, her shoulders slouched and face softened. Jayce cleared his throat. Now was the time to talk.
“Mel, I…”
The past whirled through Jayce's mind. It mocked him. Showed him things he knew in his heart weren’t true but came through frenzied and screaming. In his mind Mel holds him, the heat of her thighs soothing him. Those days in her office. Those nights under the warmth of her sheets. All twisted and made foul. He shook his head, finding a moment to compose himself. The cabin creaked, its wood assaulted by the daily gusts of ocean winds. It’s the only sound that softened the silence between them and what ultimately, grounded him. He was here, right here. Finally, he would say the words he’d wished to say before everything fell apart.
"Before, in the council room I'd said some horrible things to you," Jayce said. "I apologized, yet...I still regret them." With small steps, he made his way toward her, saying, “I could make all the excuses in the world. That I was suffering. That I wasn’t myself. But you were hurting, too. And still, you showed me grace. You fought beside me, and I never told you how thankful I was for that.”
Mel nodded, her eyes wide and heavy. "For a while, I was hurt terribly. The moment I saw you, I knew something horrible happened, just as it happened to me. I thought we could seek comfort in that.” Mel’s eyes turned towards the floor. “Then you accused me of causing the deaths of my peers.”
Jayce halted, his throat dry and tight. “I did. And there’s no excuse for that.”
Her laugh was short and pained. “Though there’s one thing you were correct about. That day, you said I called you an investment—“
“I know, and I understand that now—“
“Please,” Mel raised her hand, “just let me finish.” Sighing, she continued, “Yes, I admitted to calling you an investment because ultimately, that’s what you and Hextech were, an investment in the future. Yet not once have I ever seen you as something less. Not once was it ever my intention to misuse or betray you,” she cried.
“I know,” Jayce said, trying, but failing to settle the guilt that rose within him.
A sniffle then a cough. Mel adjusted herself in her seat, smoothing down the fabric of her outfit, yet her face betrayed her, the onset of tears welling in her eyes.
“So many things were on the line that day, our minds both set on battle,” she said, her voice shaking. “I entered that ring knowing that my mother needed to be stopped at all costs, and it ended with her dead in my arms. But after the dust settled, I thought at least I hadn’t lost everything. At least we could find ways to deal with the suffering together. But when they said they couldn’t find your body I…”
It was almost instinctive, the way he rushed towards her side, kneeling before her. “Yet I'm here," he spoke softly. "Somehow, I'm here."
He can't explain how it happened, really. His eyes were shut so tight and the world was so loud then. The reality is that he should’ve died in that void and everything along with it. In fact, he did die. The weight of his body dissipating with each second. The explosion of light fading into an infinite darkness. Finally, he would be done with this nightmare he brought upon the world and embraced the nothingness that lay after. And that’s what it was, nothingness. Until somehow, someway, he blinked and awoke in the place where it all started and with the cause of his apparent survival nowhere in sight.
Jayce cupped Mel’s hands into his. Soft and flawless, just as he remembered. "The last thing I said to you was that you’d never be a passenger, yet what I should’ve done was tell you how much you meant to me then.” He held her hands tighter, his eyes pleading. “Mel, I've seen…we’ve both seen so much. Too much. Tell me, even with everything that's happened, that there's still a me and you in all of this? That I can still stand beside you?”
That was...not the face he expected to see, sunken and dark. "Too much time has passed, Jayce," Mel said, slowly taking her hands from his. "I'm afraid that the person I am now...is not the one you desire anymore."
"Then I'll love the you that's here now,” he said, pulling them back towards him. "We’ve both changed, Mel, but that doesn't make us beyond repair."
In the seconds Mel fell silent, Jayce felt all the air leaving him. Quietly, he braced himself for her rejection, yet rejection never came. Instead, Mel removed her hands again, only this time, to gently place them on the sides of his face, stroking his temples with the edge of her thumbs.
“It’s not my wish to continue dwelling on the past, Jayce," said Mel. "A part of me knows that you will always be my weakness and that regardless of where we are, our paths will always align. But...I’m uncertain that if one day, our ambitions won’t overtake our affections.” She pulled him closer, their foreheads flush. Jayce fights the gnawing heat that rises within him, along with the need to further close the space between their lips. “What I’m asking, Jayce Tails, is do you have the resolve to stand beside me and face the world?”
It was a fair question. This wasn’t Mel, the Piltover politician speaking. This was General Medarda, the rightful leader of the Medarda empire and all that it brings. Jayce was only a man. Not a god. Not touched by the Arcane. Nor did he belong to any wealthy or influential house. But he’d fought against the ultimate threat and escaped the clutches of death itself. And while he may never return to the “old” Jayce, he knew the only thing that mattered now was stepping toward the future.
"There are always uncertainties, Mel," Jayce said, "but whatever happens...” Jayce lifted her hand, his lips brushing along the back with kisses. “If you're with me, I'm with you."
"Then show me,” Mel urged. “Give me a reason to believe your words are true.”
And so he does, greedily and without restraint. As if her very breaths were the gift of life itself, pulling him back from the brink. He would savor her, biting gently at her lips, trailing kisses along her neck, her chest. Remembering the spot just behind her ear he teased the most and holding back a smirk as she moaned in approval. This time, he would not let go. For the comet, once adrift and aimless, was now pulled back into the orbit of a never-ending sun.