The train ride had been quiet, save for the occasional hum of conversation and the rhythmic clatter of the rails beneath them. Vi had done as Caitlyn asked—no questions, no prying, just following her lead. And now, as they stepped off the last station on the outskirts of Piltover, she found herself standing atop the rolling high hills, where the city melted into the vast horizon.
It was nothing like Zaun. Nothing like the choked, twisting streets or the ever-present hum of industry. Here, the wind carried the scent of dew-kissed grass and the distant whisper of birds, free and untethered. The city stretched below them, a cascade of golden lights beginning to flicker as dusk crept in.
Caitlyn had laid out a dark green blanket over the soft earth, guiding Vi down beside her, the both of them sinking into its embrace. The sky above, a canvas of deepening blues and violets, was interrupted only by thin veils of cloud, rolling softly like forgotten breaths across the heavens.
“My father brought me here as a child,” Caitlyn murmured, eyes lifting to the stars just beginning to peek through the twilight. “He taught me the constellations. We would lie in the grass for hours, tracing their paths with our fingers. It felt like magic.”
Vi listened, but her gaze had not left the world before her. She had never seen Piltover from this high up, never felt its grandeur as something separate from the cobbled streets and rigid walls. Up here, it was quiet. The wind carried nothing but the scent of wildflowers and damp earth, a lullaby of rustling grass and distant birdsong.
She barely realized when her eyes welled up, overwhelmed by the sheer stillness of it all. No sirens. No shouts. Just… peace.
“You’re missing the view, y’know,” she finally said, her voice a touch unsteady, glancing at Caitlyn, who had been staring at her all along.
Caitlyn smiled, slow and full of something soft. “No,” she whispered. “I have the best view from right here.”
Vi swallowed hard, warmth creeping up her neck. The way Caitlyn looked at her—it made her feel undone. Like she was something to be cherished, something to be held in hands both steady and tender.
A comfortable silence settled between them, the hush of the wind wrapping around them like silk. Caitlyn had turned her attention to a book she’d brought, her fingers delicately tracing over the worn pages as she read about the birds of Valoran. The inked sketches of sleek black crows caught her eye, a passage detailing their uncanny intelligence and frequent sightings in Upper Piltover. She was enraptured by it, lost in quiet fascination.
Vi, however, was enraptured by something else entirely. Lying back on her elbows, she let her fingers weave through the blades of grass, feeling their softness, their life. The sky had deepened now, the stars stretching in a vast, endless sprawl. The clouds, once scattered wisps, had grown into thick cotton masses, slow and weightless.
Then, almost absently, she spoke.
“If I had known the world could be this quiet, this beautiful... I think I would’ve spent less time fighting it, and more time searching for it.” She paused, the weight of the night settling into her bones. “And now, sitting here with you, seeing the city lights blink in the distance, feeling the cool air around us… If this were the last thing I ever did, the last sight I ever saw—the stars, the skyline, and you beside me—I think I would die happy.”
Caitlyn’s breath hitched. The book slipped shut in her hands, the quiet thump of pages meeting cutting through the night air. She turned sharply to Vi, the weight of those words sinking deep into her bones.
Vi had been watching the sky, but she felt it—the shift in the air, the way Caitlyn’s presence grew impossibly closer. Then, a hand, warm and gentle, cupped her jaw, guiding her to meet Caitlyn’s gaze.
The intensity of it stole the breath from Vi’s lungs. The dark pools of Caitlyn’s eyes, vast and fathomless, held a kind of reverence that sent a shiver up Vi’s spine.
And then Caitlyn kissed her.
It was slow at first, a press of warmth and longing, before deepening into something consuming. Vi barely had time to react before she was sinking, falling back onto the blanket with Caitlyn following, her body moving over Vi’s as if drawn by gravity itself.
The wind curled around them, cool against flushed skin, carrying the delicate scent of Caitlyn’s hair—soft lavender, crisp linen, something inherently her. Vi’s hands found purchase at Caitlyn’s waist, fingers flexing slightly as if to make sure she was real, that this moment wasn’t some dream conjured by the quiet perfection of the night.
Caitlyn’s fingers traced along Vi’s jaw before tangling into the short strands of her hair, tugging her deeper into the kiss. It was intoxicating—the way Caitlyn melted against her, the way she tasted like something sweet and warm, like moonlight and laughter wrapped in silk.
When they finally broke apart, Caitlyn hovered just above Vi, her breath mingling with the crisp night air. Vi’s eyes, still hazy with longing, searched hers as if memorizing every detail, every delicate shift in expression.
Caitlyn exhaled softly, a smile ghosting over her lips. “I wanted to bring you somewhere special,” she murmured, her voice carrying something unspoken, something fragile and full.
Vi let out a quiet laugh, the sound rich and warm. “You didn’t just bring me somewhere special,” she said, brushing a strand of Caitlyn’s hair back. “You made it special.”
Caitlyn’s lips parted slightly, caught in the weight of those words. She inhaled, as if drawing in Vi’s presence, letting it settle in her chest. Then, unable to resist, she kissed Vi again—deeper, softer, as if sealing the moment into the fabric of time itself.
Vi pulled her closer, feeling the warmth of Caitlyn’s body pressed against hers, her heartbeat steady and reassuring. The world felt smaller now, like it was just the two of them, suspended between the stars and the earth. Vi let her fingers wander, tracing gentle patterns against Caitlyn’s spine, savoring the way Caitlyn shivered under her touch.
“I could stay here forever,” Vi whispered against Caitlyn’s lips, eyes half-lidded, heavy with adoration. “Right here, with you, under these stars.”
Caitlyn smiled against her mouth, pressing another lingering kiss there, as if making a promise neither of them had to say aloud. “Then we'll stay,” she murmured. “As long as you want.”