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The soft morning light streamed through the tall windows of the Piltover Detective Agency, bathing the office in a warm, golden glow. At that hour, the building was only just beginning to stir. The hallways remained almost empty, and the silence was broken only by the distant murmur of a few conversations and the occasional clatter of a typewriter.
Caitlyn Kiramman preferred it that way.
She always arrived before everyone else. It was a habit she had developed over the years, one no one questioned anymore. Some claimed it was because of her impeccable discipline; others believed she simply enjoyed working without interruptions.
The truth was far simpler.
The silence made the days a little easier to endure.
Carefully, she brought her coffee to her lips and took a long sip before setting the cup back down on her desk. Several open folders lay scattered in front of her, along with reports that needed filing and photographs from the latest case she had just solved.
She picked up one of the folders and quickly reviewed its final pages. After so many years working as a detective, it had become impossible to remember every face or every detail from the hundreds of cases that had passed through her hands. Some ended with a criminal behind bars. Others, unfortunately, became nothing more than filing cabinets filled with unanswered questions.
Even so, she never allowed one case to influence the next.
With a precise movement, she reached for the wooden stamp resting beside her desk and pressed it against the final page.
CASE CLOSED.
A small satisfaction, perhaps insignificant to anyone else, but enough to remind her why she continued doing this job.
She set the folder aside and reached for her coffee again. Before her fingers could close around the cup, however, her gaze drifted toward the framed photograph beside the telephone.
It had been taken on their wedding day.
Vi was smiling as though nothing in the world mattered more than holding Caitlyn’s hand. Caitlyn, for her part, had rarely looked so happy in a photograph.
Her fingers brushed unconsciously against the wedding ring she still wore.
Four years.
Four long years since Vi had left to complete her military service.
Caitlyn could still remember what it had felt like to watch her walk away that morning. The promise that she would return. The letters that had gradually become less frequent. The calls that had grown shorter and shorter…
Until they stopped altogether five months ago.
Since then, the telephone had become a strange and unsettling object.
Every time it rang, one part of her desperately wished it was Vi.
And another part was terrified that it would not be.
Caitlyn pushed those thoughts aside with a barely audible sigh and returned her attention to her work. She still had several reports to review before the rest of the staff began arriving.
She had just lifted her coffee again when the office door suddenly flew open.
“Good morning, sister-in-law!”
The voice echoed throughout the office at the same moment the door slammed against the wall.
Caitlyn flinched. The cup tilted dangerously between her hands, sending several drops of coffee splattering across the sleeve of her blazer.
“Powder!” she exclaimed, setting the cup on her desk before grabbing a few napkins. “What have I told you about knocking like a civilized person?”
“That I’m supposed to knock before coming in.”
“Exactly.”
“But that takes all the excitement out of it.”
Caitlyn looked up to find the young woman grinning shamelessly at her, as though bursting into other people’s offices was the most natural thing in the world. Her blue hair was pulled into two perfectly rounded buns, and a backpack hung from one shoulder, though it looked more like an accessory than something she actually used for studying.
The detective let out a resigned sigh as she finished wiping away the coffee.
“What are you doing here? You should be in class.”
“I know.”
“And…?”
“I’m not in class.”
“I had already noticed.”
Powder’s grin widened.
“Professor Heimerdinger wrote to us this morning. One of his experiments exploded.”
Caitlyn raised an eyebrow.
“Exploded?”
“Well… technically, it went ‘BOOM’ and made half the laboratory unusable.”
The detective stared at her in silence for several seconds.
It was impossible to know when Powder was being completely serious and when she was exaggerating purely for her own entertainment. After so many years working as a detective, Caitlyn could recognize a lie simply by looking someone in the eye.
Anyone.
Except Powder.
Vi had always claimed that Caitlyn was incapable of hiding how she felt.
Caitlyn was convinced that her wife had never attempted to interrogate Powder.
“Is that true?” she finally asked.
“Completely.”
“And no one was hurt?”
“Only the professor’s pride.”
A quiet laugh finally escaped Caitlyn.
“That, I believe.”
Encouraged by her small victory, Powder walked over to the chair in front of the desk and dropped into it without the slightest hint of elegance. A second later, her legs were stretched out across Caitlyn’s desk.
The detective did not even need to look at her.
“Your feet.”
Powder put on an innocent expression.
“What about them?”
“Take them down.”
“But they’re clean.”
“Powder.”
The young woman released a dramatic sigh before obeying.
“You’re so strict…”
“Someone has to be.”
“Vi never complained.”
Caitlyn smiled without realizing it.
“Vi was part of the problem.”
For a moment, they both fell silent.
It was strange how the simple mention of her name could change the atmosphere in the room. It was not an uncomfortable silence, but one heavy with nostalgia, as though they had both thought of the exact same person at the exact same time.
Powder was the first to break it.
“Ekko and I were going out for breakfast since classes were canceled. We thought we’d stop by and invite you.”
“I appreciate it, but I ate before coming here.”
Caitlyn picked up another folder and began examining its contents.
“Besides, I have quite a lot of work to finish.”
“Well… then we could go out for drinks tonight.”
Caitlyn slowly lifted her gaze.
“Do you honestly expect me to believe that invitation is entirely selfless?”
Powder placed a hand over her chest, feigning outrage.
“You wound me deeply!”
“Do I?”
“Well… a little.”
The detective crossed her arms.
“What do you need this time?”
Powder smiled with an expression Caitlyn knew far too well.
“I have to do a project for university…”
“Of course.”
“And maybe…”
“Powder.”
“Perhaps…”
“Powder.”
“I might need just a tiny bit of help.”
Caitlyn shook her head as a laugh escaped her lips.
“You always do this.”
“Because it always works.”
“You take advantage of the fact that Vi asked me to look after you before she left.”
“It’s not my fault you’re too good at saying yes.”
“That remains to be seen.”
“So… will you help me?”
Before Caitlyn could answer, the sharp ringing of the landline shattered the atmosphere in the office.
Both of them turned toward the old telephone resting beside the framed photograph.
For a moment, time seemed to stop.
The phone rang again.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Caitlyn glanced at Powder and gestured for her to remain quiet. The young woman raised both hands in surrender, though the mischievous smile remained firmly in place.
The detective picked up the receiver and brought it to her ear.
“Detective Kiramman speaking. How may I help you?”
Powder rolled her eyes dramatically.
“If it’s Viktor, tell him he still owes me twenty dollars from that bet the other day.”
Caitlyn covered the mouthpiece with one hand and shot her a warning look.
“Powder…”
“What? I’m only trying to help.”
Shaking her head slightly, Caitlyn turned her full attention back to the call.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Only the faint hum of the line.
She frowned.
“Is anyone there?”
Nothing.
For a moment, she thought someone might have dialed the wrong number, or perhaps the connection had been lost before she could answer.
She was about to hang up when a soft laugh broke through the silence on the other end.
A low laugh.
Warm and unmistakable.
The world seemed to stop.
The sounds of the building disappeared. The murmuring in the hallways. The ticking of the clock on the wall.
Even Powder’s breathing seemed to vanish for an instant.
There was only that laugh.
That voice Caitlyn had heard countless times before falling asleep.
The same voice she had missed for four long years.
“I figured you’d already be working, Cupcake.”
Caitlyn’s breath caught.
Every muscle in her body tensed at once. Her fingers tightened around the receiver while her other hand reached for the desk to steady herself.
“What did I tell you about working so hard?” Vi continued, her voice carrying the same warmth that always seemed to wrap itself around every word. “Are you ever going to listen to me?”
Caitlyn closed her eyes.
She could not answer.
Five months.
Five endless months of imagining that voice over and over again.
Five months of wondering whether she would ever hear it again.
A knot formed in her throat before she even realized she was trembling. Slowly, she brought a hand to her mouth, attempting to contain the sob threatening to escape.
She failed.
A tear slipped silently down her cheek.
Then another.
And another.
At last, she managed to draw a breath.
“This is the first time you’ve called me in more than five months…” she whispered, her voice breaking beneath the weight of her emotions. “And you still have the audacity to lecture me, Violet?”
On the other side of the office, Powder’s smile disappeared.
She had not heard the voice coming through the telephone, but she had heard that name.
Violet.
More importantly, she had watched Caitlyn’s expression transform completely.
A brief silence followed on the other end of the line.
Vi smiled.
She could picture Caitlyn’s face perfectly. Her shining eyes. The faint crease between her eyebrows as she tried to hold back her tears.
Caitlyn had always been terrible at hiding what she felt when it came to her.
Vi slowly leaned back against the cold concrete wall of the military base’s communications building. The old wall-mounted telephone creaked whenever her grip tightened around the receiver.
She was trembling too.
Caitlyn simply could not see it.
“I’m sorry, Cupcake…” she murmured with a tenderness that almost hurt. “You have no idea how many times I wanted to call you.”
Her gaze dropped to her knuckles, still covered in small wounds and scratches that had only just begun to heal.
“But getting access to a telephone here is practically a miracle… and these past few months…”
Her voice faded.
She did not want to talk about that.
Not today.
Not when, for the first time in so long, she could hear her wife’s voice.
Vi took a deep breath and forced herself to smile again.
“You have no idea how happy I am to hear you.”
Caitlyn squeezed her eyes shut.
Those words shattered the fragile barrier she had been struggling to maintain. The tears began to fall freely, beyond her control.
She no longer cared that Powder was watching her.
She no longer cared whether someone walked into the office.
For five months, she had imagined hundreds of different possibilities, and none of them had prepared her for this.
“I’m… I’m happy to hear you too…” she managed between sobs.
Vi let out a soft laugh. It was not mocking or playful, but the quiet laugh that always appeared whenever she managed to soothe Caitlyn.
“There you are… That’s my Cupcake.”
Caitlyn shook her head slightly as a small smile appeared through her tears.
“Do not try to distract me.”
“Did it work?”
“Not even slightly.”
“Hmm… Then I must be getting rusty.”
For the first time since answering the phone, Caitlyn laughed.
It was small and trembling, but entirely sincere.
Something warm settled in Vi’s chest at the sound.
She had survived four years.
She had endured countless nights away from home. She had learned to live with the constant noise of weapons, shouted orders and uncertainty.
But hearing that laugh…
That was what she had truly been waiting for all this time.
“I really am sorry,” Vi finally said, releasing a long breath. “I know I should’ve called sooner. I know I promised to stay in touch… but the last few months have been complicated.”
Caitlyn quickly wiped her tears away with the back of her hand.
“Are you all right?”
The question came out so quickly that even she seemed surprised by it.
“Where are you? Are you hurt? What happened? Vi, I’ve been so worried. I wasn’t receiving any letters, and no one could tell me anything. I started to think…”
The detective could not finish the sentence.
She did not want to give a voice to all the fears that had accompanied her during those five months.
Vi understood without needing to hear the rest.
“Cupcake…”
Her voice grew firmer, steadier, as though she were trying to hold Caitlyn from across the distance.
“I’m okay.”
After a brief pause, she added with a crooked smile:
“Well… I’m doing a lot better than some of the others, which is saying something.”
Caitlyn slowly released the breath she had been holding.
It was not a perfect answer, but it was enough.
For now.
“We got back to the base a few days ago,” Vi continued. “The moment I saw the phone was free, I ran over here. I didn’t even stop by the barracks first.”
A smile returned to Caitlyn’s face.
That sounded exactly like Vi.
Impulsive, impatient and completely incapable of waiting another minute when it came to the people she loved.
Then Vi took a deep breath.
She had waited four years to say what came next.
She had no intention of wasting the moment.
“Actually… I called because I have some news.”
Across the desk, Powder watched the scene without moving.
She had never seen Caitlyn cry like that, not even on the day Vi had left. These tears were different. They were not born entirely from pain.
There was something else in them.
Something that made Caitlyn smile despite the tears.
The young woman took one step toward the desk, then another, moving silently, as though the slightest sound might shatter the moment.
“What kind of news?” Caitlyn asked, attempting to regain her composure as she wiped her cheeks.
Vi inhaled deeply.
From her end of the line came the distant sounds of soldiers walking, orders being shouted and metal crates being transported from one place to another.
The world continued moving around her.
And yet, for Vi, everything had stopped.
“Do you remember the promise I made before I left?”
Caitlyn’s fingers tightened around the receiver.
How could she possibly forget?
She remembered it every time she woke up alone. Every time she saw the empty side of the bed. Every time she returned from work and opened the door to a house that was far too quiet.
“I’ll come back as soon as my service is over.”
Vi remembered it too.
She had thought about those words on countless nights. When the cold kept her awake. When fear crept quietly into her thoughts. When she wondered whether she would truly make it home.
That was why this call meant so much.
Because after four years…
She could finally keep her promise.
A tired smile crossed Vi’s face.
“My discharge has been approved.”
Caitlyn stopped breathing.
“I’ve completed my service.”
The words around her began to lose their meaning.
There was only Vi’s voice.
“There are still a few formalities left. I have to sign a mountain of boring paperwork… You know how these things work.”
Vi released a small laugh, but this time Caitlyn did not respond.
She simply waited.
Waited to hear the words she had spent four years dreaming about.
Vi closed her eyes and smiled.
“I’m coming home, Cupcake.”
The world stopped.
There was no more noise.
No office.
No paperwork.
No work.
Only those five words.
Caitlyn felt the air leave her lungs.
For four years, she had learned to live with Vi’s absence. She had learned to sleep alone, eat breakfast alone and celebrate birthdays through video calls whenever they were lucky enough to have one.
She had learned to pretend she was calm whenever a letter arrived late.
And yet…
She had never stopped waiting for this moment.
Another tear slowly rolled down her cheek.
Then another.
And another.
But this time they did not come from fear.
They came from relief.
“You…” she whispered, her voice completely broken. “You’re not playing with me… are you?”
Vi shook her head, forgetting for a moment that Caitlyn could not see her.
“I would never joke about something like this.”
She paused, then added with infinite tenderness:
“I’m coming home, Cait. I’m coming home to you.”
Caitlyn remained silent, barely able to process what Vi had just told her.
The smile on her face grew even wider.
“Please tell me this is… that it’s…”
“Sweetheart… it’s true.”
Vi’s voice was firm, calm and certain, as though she were trying to send Caitlyn all the reassurance she had been unable to give her during the past several months.
“I’m coming home.”
Those words destroyed the final barrier Caitlyn had attempted to hold in place.
A sob escaped her.
It was not a cry of sadness.
It was the weight of four years slowly leaving her chest.
The endless nights sleeping alone.
The months without a letter.
The calls that had stopped coming.
The fear that seized her whenever someone knocked at the door, terrified that she would find a military uniform waiting outside with the news she had spent so long trying not to imagine.
All of it…
It was finally coming to an end.
Across the desk, Powder watched the tears continue to stream down Caitlyn’s cheeks.
But that smile…
That enormous, radiant smile…
It was enough for her to understand.
She slowly rose from her chair.
“What happened?” she asked quietly.
Caitlyn looked up at her.
She did not need to answer.
“It’s my sister.”
It was not a question.
It was a certainty.
Vi let out a small laugh when she heard her.
“Is Powder there with you?”
Caitlyn nodded instinctively before remembering that Vi could not see her.
“Yes… she’s here with me.”
An amused smile appeared through her tears.
“And she’s spent the last several minutes trying to bribe me into helping with one of her university projects.”
“That’s not true!” Powder protested, placing both hands on the desk as she tried to get closer to the telephone. “I was negotiating!”
Vi’s laughter rang warmly through the line.
She had missed those small arguments more than she could express.
“Would you like to speak to her?” Caitlyn asked, quickly wiping her cheeks. “I’m certain that—”
She never finished the sentence.
“Yes, she would!”
Powder practically snatched the receiver from Caitlyn’s hands before the detective could react.
“Vi! Are you there? Hey!”
For a second, she thought she heard someone breathing.
Then Vi’s voice came through, broken by the poor connection.
“Pow—!”
Before she could continue, a firm voice echoed in the background.
“Kiramman! Your time is up! Leave the phone for the next person!”
Vi released a hurried laugh.
“I’ll see you soon…”
The dial tone filled the line.
Constant.
Empty.
Unbearable.
“Vi?” Powder murmured, slowly moving the receiver away from her ear. “No… no, no…”
She stared at the telephone for a moment before carefully returning it to its cradle.
Then she immediately turned toward Caitlyn.
“What did she say? Is she okay? How is she?”
The detective’s eyes were still wet, but the happiness shining across her face was impossible to conceal.
She took a deep breath and smiled.
“She’s coming back, Powder.”
The young woman froze.
“What…?”
“Vi will be home in a couple of weeks.”
The backpack slowly slipped from Powder’s shoulder and fell to the floor.
Her legs seemed to stop responding, and she sank back into the chair almost automatically.
She had not seen her sister in person for nearly two years, when Vi had managed to obtain special leave to spend the holidays with them.
And the last time she had heard Vi’s voice…
That had been five months ago.
Since then, there had been nothing.
No letter.
No phone call.
Not a single piece of news.
Before she realized it, tears were streaming down Powder’s cheeks as well.
Meanwhile, Caitlyn wiped her face and began gathering the documents scattered across her desk.
None of those reports seemed important anymore.
In front of the telephone rested the photograph from her wedding day.
Powder stared at it for several seconds.
Caitlyn and Vi were smiling.
Happy.
Radiant.
She could not remember the last time she had seen them look that way.
The memories of the past few years had always been stained by farewells. Bus terminals. Embraces that lasted far too long. Promises made through tears.
But perhaps…
Just perhaps…
Everything was about to change.
Caitlyn closed one of the desk drawers, and for a moment, her mind returned to that dinner four years ago.
“I’ve made a decision…”
Vi’s voice remained as vivid in her memory as it had been that day.
“I don’t expect you to understand. I know it will be difficult to accept…”
Then she had taken a deep breath before saying the words that changed all of their lives.
“I enlisted in the army. Zaun needs people… and I feel like I owe them something. This is my way of making up for it.”
Powder had exploded immediately.
She had argued with Vi for hours, searching for anything that might convince her to change her mind.
Ekko, on the other hand, had asked only once whether she was absolutely certain.
And Caitlyn…
Caitlyn had simply risen from the table and walked into the bedroom they shared.
She had been unable to say a single word.
Two days passed before she finally gathered enough courage to approach Vi.
That morning, while Vi was preparing breakfast, Caitlyn wrapped her arms tightly around her from behind.
She did not cry.
She did not argue.
She only rested her forehead between Vi’s shoulder blades and whispered in a broken voice:
“Promise me you’ll be careful… please.”
She could not remember exactly what Vi had said in response.
She only remembered the promise Vi made before leaving.
She would come home as soon as her service was over.
And now…
At last, she was going to keep it.
“Are you leaving?” Powder asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.
Caitlyn picked up her bag and nodded.
“Yes.”
She looked around the office one final time.
“The house is a disaster. There are folders everywhere, clothes I haven’t put away… I have so much to prepare before she arrives.”
Powder released a small laugh as she walked beside her toward the exit.
“Even if the place were completely upside down, Vi would still think it was the most beautiful place in the world.”
They left the building together and found Ekko waiting outside, leaning casually against his motorcycle.
When he saw their faces, he raised an eyebrow.
“Well… judging by those expressions, I’d say something important happened.”
Caitlyn and Powder exchanged a look.
Then a smile.
For the first time in a very long time, Caitlyn felt the words come effortlessly.
“You know what? I think I’ll accept that invitation for tonight.”
Powder immediately grinned.
“That’s my sister-in-law!”
She gave Ekko a light nudge with her elbow.
“See? I always told you that, even if she is a Piltie, there’s a little party spirit hiding in there somewhere.”
Ekko laughed.
“All right… but someone is going to have to explain what we’re celebrating, because I seriously doubt Cait accepted your attempted bribe.”
Caitlyn released a soft laugh and looked up at the clear Piltover sky.
Her tears had already dried.
All that remained was an overwhelming sense of peace.
After four long years…
They finally had good news to share.
“We’re celebrating Vi coming home.”