•To The Simpler Times ~Vi x F!Oc•

•21•

Less than a week later, me and Vi watch from a slight distance as Caitlyn and other members of the passed councillors families scatter petals over their loved ones. The deceased are; Irius Bolbok, Torman Hoskel and... Cassandra Kiramman. A silent tear falls down my cheek as I watch the sad scene. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Vi begin to walk away as she pulled her hood over her head.

"Vi?" I mumble, slowly following her away.

We walk through the threshold of the Kiramman estate, in which we were given a place to stay for the meantime. Both me and Vi spend a lot of our time in silence on the stairs, like scared little kids. It's quite humbling to watch both Kirammans walk around their house, eyeing us sitting on the stairs and looking through the banisters like we're 11 again.

With Caitlyn carrying on strongly and the heavy silence that surrounds the house constantly, time to think is practically forced upon us. Or at least, me.

I think about Ekko, I haven't seen him since the battle on the bridge... is he dead? I think about the butterfly effect, if we were still in prison, would this have happened? If we never stole from that penthouse suite, never found the gems... what then? Would Vander be alive? Would we all be... normal?

When Caitlyn is home, the silence hangs almost heavier, even if she says a few words to her dad. Never to us though, it's like we're ghosts.

She sits on the couch, sifting through mail after speaking with the remaining councillors. Her dad sits beside her, too tired and drained to even accept the cup of tea his daughter offers. Me and Vi watch the scene from a small distance, hiding behind a wall as if like children.

"I had the shot." Caitlyn says angrily yet softly. She blames herself.

Her father hesitates before handing something to her. "Your mother left this to you."

"The Kiramman key? No, I'm not... I don't deserve this."

"It's your legacy now, Caitlyn... what are they still doing here?"

My eyes widen slightly, brows furrowing guiltily. Like a child caught out of bed late. Vi tugs at my hand and we sadly walk away.

"Why are we here?"

"I don't know, Bran."

We find a hallway lined with windows, framing the painting of life outside, crying for the lost. Vi walks up to one, touching it as if it would break beneath her light hand. Despite how sad I know she is, she's incredibly, poetically beautiful like this.

I walk up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist with a loving firmness. "You look beautiful."

She doesn't say anything, she just leans against me slightly and I bury my face into her neck. I inhale her scent like it's a drug, a soothing, familiar smell.

"I love you." I mumble, the vibrations of my words traveling through her skin like the patterns in the windows.

"I love you too." She whispers back.

Caitlyn slowly walks towards us, the sound of her shoes clacking through the corridor. We hesitantly part to face her, linking arms.

"Hey." Vi greets softly.

She can't even mutter a single word, she just rushes to us and collects us in her arms, sobbing. We gasp softly before enveloping her in a tight embrace. She sighs softly before pulling back and wiping her tears.

"You were right Cait... Powder is gone. I can make this right. If you get Jayce to fix my gauntlets, I can do this myself. No one else needs to get hurt."

"You can't do this yourself, honey."

"No more rogue missions, no more reckless plans. My mother was right. My arrogance led me to take on more than I could handle, and she paid the price... They're sending all the enforcers after Jinx. I'm going with them."

"Please... we can help. We have to help." Vi insists.

"You can." Caitlyn hands Vi two small, leather cases. Opening one, she reveals an enforcers badge. "As one of us."

A small tear threatens to fall down from my eye as I stare at the badge. I squeeze Vi's hand gently, signalling that I just can't do that.

"Cait, we can't wear these."

"People are calling for blood. The council won't stop them. You can show that not all of Zaun supports Jinx. We can show them. Together."

"We watched them kill our parents. Do you have any idea how that feels?" Vi speaks for the both of us, dropping the badges and stepping back from Caitlyn.

"Yes! I do. I thought you were on our side."

"You didn't think at all." Vi spits back, wrapping her arm around my waist as she leads me through and out the house. I finally let the tears fall from my eyes with quiet sobs, I hate that she thought I would ever go near that badge. I know Vi feels the same.

We walk in silence through the streets of Piltover, the cold wind and rain enveloping us in a bitter embrace. We reach an archway beneath what seems to be a walkway and we slide ourselves down the wall to sit. With Vi's arms still around me, I sit close and lean into her, closing my eyes. She reaches out and touches a bottle before she realises its empty and throws it away.

A man quite close by grunts and complains. "Hey, watch it."

"Sorry..." Vi mumbles.

"Not my first. You alright? You... lose someone in the attack? Either of you?"

I finally open my eyes to see what the man looks like. He's a tall, wider man with tanned skin. His hair is dark but greying and he sort of reminds me of Vander. He's holding out a flask to Vi and I sit up as she takes a swig.

"Something like that."