The Beauty of Shattered Pieces
It was two AM when the party ended, and had taken a full hour to clear out all the tipsy guests. The kids had been taken back to the manor by Scar and his mate Laura, and Pow sat on the ground beside Ekko at the head of the dance floor, Caitlyn and Vi before them sharing stories and giggling half drunk. There had been leftover champagne, and the two bottles sat between them popped and ready to pour. The three women had all shed their shoes, and Pow had let her hair down, only the tips dusting the floor where she sat. Next to her, Ekko stared at the newlyweds in shock.
“There’s no way you two actually did that,” he said.
Caitlyn grinned. “There is no you two about this. Vi was the one to choose the restaurant and she was the one who purposefully chose the spiciest item on the menu and ate it in three bites.”
“That had to burn coming out,” Pow said, hiccuping around the wine in her belly.
“You’re telling me,” Caitlyn groaned. “The house smelled like capsaicin Chernobyl for the next five days.”
“Oh hell no, I did not need to hear that,” Ekko grumbled, nose scrunched.
“And I didn’t need to live it,” Vi mumbled.
“You literally chose that for yourself!” Caitlyn shouted.
“I’ve survived stab wounds and poisonous gas but I can’t survive a little spice?”
“Those are not even remotely similar!”
“Holy shit, you’ve been married for eight hours and you’re already bickering like an old married couple,” Pow groaned.
Vi laughed, taking another swig of champagne. “I get it now, I really do. You two were so clingy and sappy growing up but now I get it. Having someone to yourself is nice.”
Caitlyn took the bottle from Vi’s hand, smiling. “Love you too, but I think you’ve had enough. You’re such a cheesy drunk lately.”
“You’re so sweet, cupcake.”
Pow remembered what she had prepared for the two this night, a simple two gifts she’d put together a day ago, sneaking out in the night while everyone slept to procure them, and hidden here beneath her table. She stood up and made her way to where the small box had been left to wait, opening it carefully and taking the two items in her hands. Now was as good a time as any to present them, while her sisters were distracted. Ekko watched her with a wide eyed gaze, himself also unaware of the gifts she’d put together.
Pow watched the two girls who were completely lost in their own world. She knelt between them quietly, leaning over Vi’s shoulder from behind.
“I paid your little friend a visit last night,” she whispered ominously. Vi looked over her shoulder at her, Caitlyn watching in curiosity as well.
“What did you do?” Vi grumbled.
“Oh, nothing. She just made me a snack.” Pow grinned maniacally, and brought her two arms around the girls, smashing the two pink frosted cupcakes into their faces, the blue candies rolling off and onto the floor. Ekko howled with laughter across from them while the two girls sputtered. “Congrats again, sis! Two cupcakes for you and your cupcake!”
“I hate you so much,” Caitlyn groaned, licking the icing from her nose. “It’s quite good though.”
“Love you too Catherine.”
“What the hell.”
Pow was so glad that she could have this life. It was something she’d never thought possible; to get to hang out with her sister, to have a family of her own, to go out and play, and dance and goof off and just be a person. She was glad she came back to Piltover, even if she knew she wouldn’t stay. Piltover was never home to her, and even Zaun had stopped feeling like where she belonged. But the three here, the four kids at the manor, those were her home, and wherever they went, she too would go.
Vi had finished munching on the crumbled remains of her cupcake, Caitlyn only eating what had stuck to her face, and Ekko laughed at the sight. Pow was glad to see him laughing more, to see him enjoying his time with Vi and Caitlyn. He was slow to open up, always had been, but he’d eventually found the words to give her, only months before that letter arrived at their door. The words to explain that he hated Vi, and that he’d hated himself for that. Hated both of them after hearing about their assault on Zaun. But he’d worked through it slowly, enough that the thought of them had stopped sending a chill through his bones, and she had grown as well in her time helping him. It was worth it, to be here now.
The two only started their journey back to the manor when Vi had gotten her bearings enough to stand on her own two feet, and energy ran high the whole way there. Something told Pow no one would be sleeping that night.
———————————
It was noon when Pow woke. Ekko was beside her, sitting up and doodling in the sketchbook he’d packed along. She was pleased to see the near perfect rendition of her face on the page. She was his favorite muse, she knew this, something she had teased him for often, not without a loving smile and a point to make about how amazing he was. She nuzzled into his side, laying her head on his lap beside the sketchbook he had closed upon seeing her awaken.
“Took you long enough, sleepyhead,” he whispered. “I’m pretty sure Vi and Cait are still asleep, and I checked the kids’ rooms. They’re all out cold. Anything you wanna do, or are we just staying in for now?”
Pow sighed, closing her eyes again. She could hear the seductive tease in his tone, but despite just waking up, she was still bone tired. She had no energy to even rise from the bed. She was cozy right where she was.
“Is this your way of saying cuddles and nap time are in order?” Ekko set his sketchbook and pencils aside, sinking under the plush blankets with her. He curled onto his side, hooking his arms around her chest, his good leg around hers. “Your speech yesterday was amazing.”
“I would hope so,” she muttered. “I put a lotta work into that.”
“Only one more day here, before we head back home.” Ekko took her hand, his was cold and the touch sent goosebumps up her forearm. “This week went by quick.”
“Seriously? It felt never ending to me.” She hummed. “Not complaining though. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed Vi.”
Pow couldn’t wait to go back home. She loved Vi, she loved Cait, and Sevika. And the week had been full of lots of fun. The night of biking around Zaun, the arcade trip with Vi, ice cream with the kids and visiting Sevika. The wedding the night prior, the hours of dancing and sipping on vintage drinks, getting to speak with much of Piltover and those who had kind words even for her. But it was as emotionally exhausting as it was exciting. Lots of growth had come upon her and Ekko both, the resurfacing of past trauma and revisiting the lives they’d worked hard to leave behind. It was all worth it, Pow had no doubt, but she was so tired, and she was ready to return to her own home. To the threadbare sofa in their small sitting room, barely big enough for three people yet managed to accommodate the six, the wood stove rather than the electric one, which probably still stunk of chicken soup, the three small bedrooms that could probably fit in this one and still have extra space. To Maya, who had graciously taken up some of Ekko’s shifts so he could make this trip, and Breeze, who was still owed a refurbished bike. To everyone else around the neighborhood, the acquaintances and shopkeepers and farmers they’d seen day by day, who had been quick to welcome them into their home despite typically shunning outsiders. Pow couldn’t wait to return to the mundanity of it all. But first, Ekko still owed the girls their gift.
“I get that. It went so fast, but there were moments that I wish would have lasted just a little longer.”
The two lay in comfortable silence, even when Lora and Argus wandered into the room and crawled into the bed with them, promptly falling back asleep. Pow figured Idina was likely in her own room drawing as well. It was only a matter of waiting at least for Caitlyn to wake up, who would probably be the only one to safely wake Vi, so they could all have one last day together and do final gift exchanges before the six returned home.
Thankfully, it wasn’t too long after the twins awoke that Caitlyn did as well, and Vi with her. The eight were all equally sluggish as they made their way to the kitchen for a lunchtime breakfast, plates of leftovers from the night before. Pasta, various cuts of beef, a rainbow of vegetables. The meal was silent aside from the quiet chewing as everyone picked apart their plates, simply taking in the presence of each other.
Vi and Caitlyn both looked like entirely new women in Pow’s eyes. Only married for a day, and she already saw a difference. It was slight, the way Caitlyn’s nose wrinkled when she caught something she didn’t like, or how Vi tapped her fingers in an idle rhythm as she fell deeper into thought. Both were still themselves, but had taken little bits from each other, becoming one in their own way. She would always be angry with the way their lives had played out, that she and Caitlyn couldn’t be friendly from the start, but they were making progress, and that was what mattered. It would get easier, now with Vi present to act as a bridge.
“Let me know when you guys have a minute, I have something for you,” Ekko said, picking the last roma tomato off his plate.
“I assume this is the gift you’ve been tinkering away at?” Caitlyn asked, her plate not quite cleared, smeared with the remains of pasta and green sauce. A dish that Vi had turned her nose up at, claiming it the night before as something a homeless Zaunite kid wouldn’t even touch. “I’ve been excited to see it.”
“Oh yeah, I’m assuming this is the thing you stuffed your bags full of parts for?” Vi asked. “Did you build me a new set of gauntlets with all that scrap metal I saw?”
“No, I’ve already told you no more weapons in the house, especially if that weapon has Jayce’s name on it,” Caitlyn grumbled.
“You’re no fun.”
“No, what’s no fun is having massive chunks blown from my house!”
“Okaaayy,” Ekko drawled. “Yes, it is what I bought parts for. No, it is not a weapon. It’s waiting outside, since I couldnt exactly get it down the stairs myself.”
Ekko took his own cue and made his way to the outside door, Pow following and the wives behind her. She followed along to a small alcove she hadn’t noticed before, despite its resting place not far from the door. She was truly curious; despite her best guesses and the glances she’d snuck while Ekko was distracted, she truly had no idea what it was he’d been building. But she knew it would be personalized to the two girls, he’d painted something and she’d known that over the many years, not a single brush stroke of his had ever gone to waste.
Pow saw the item at about the same moment the wives did, and all three were in shock. Before them against the brick wall stood a tall lamp, likely for the living room which Ekko had complained on multiple occasions was too dark. The shade was pitched on an old bike wheel, made up of twelve rotors, all painted on both sides. Ekko smiled fondly as he turned the center gauge to the left, revealing a scene of violets in the wind, petals both painted and real, and Pow took notice of the additional violets that hung from below the rotors. He turned it the opposite way, and painted brick and shards of glass coated the scene, and Pow recognized the little details; the cracks in the brick, the fallen cigars, even the sparse weeds fighting for a shred of sunlight in the crevices, the scene that lay before the familiar doors of the Last Drop. Ekko reached behind the shade and lit a lantern, and a deep indigo glow lit the alcove. He reset the rotor blades and the indigo light caught the colored glass just so, sending a kaleidoscope along the walls, reminding Pow so fondly of her childhood home.
“I couldn’t think of anything I could make that you’d actually have any use for,” Ekko said. “But it’s something to look at, and it’s something practical. I figured it would work nicely for you both.”
Vi and Caitlyn both stared at the floor lamp in awe, both entranced by the respective calls to their own stories. It was something that Pow knew, even if it was something out of the way and out of place in their Victorian home, would get a heavy dose of love and use.
Vi broke first. “Did you get that from the bar? I recognize that label.” She pointed to a large green shard along the side of one blade, engraved with a series of letters and the year 1833. “That one was Mom’s favorite beer.”
“And there’s only one place to find violets in this quantity,” Caitlyn continued, misty eyed. “How did you come by all of this? Its perfect.”
“I spent an afternoon with Sevika while you all were getting ready for the wedding. She showed me where you like to go, and I took as many flowers as my bag could fit.”
Pow watched in silence as Ekko continued showing off the little features of his creation. The base of the lantern behind the lamp shade, blue glass laid out like a shimmering violet to hold a lavender scented candle. The way the rotors actually spun on their base, allowing the dangling violets to dance in the air. The way the individual blades could mix and match if you just hit the right toggle, creating a back and forth of violets and glassy brick. It was something so Ekko, a creation so practical, useful, something that would get frequent use, that also doubled as something so beautiful and deeply intimate that it touched the soul in just the right way.
To her shock, likely to everyone’s shock, Caitlyn reached out and hugged Ekko, a full body embrace that seemed to shake him to his core. Part of him seemed to collapse in her embrace, a fall of his face that built itself back up just as quickly, and he embraced her as well with shaking hands. Vi joined the two, and Pow as well, and for many moments, the four lingered there silently.
———————————
The lamp stood tall in the living room’s corner, bathing the room in cobalt, the violets on current display. The four of them sat on the sofas, each sister joined with their pair. Ekko had gone upstairs to retrieve another small gift, he’d said, while Pow had finished putting the kids to bed. It had been a slow, lazy day, the presentation of the lamp the only real excitement. The four had spent the afternoon simply enjoying each other’s company, playing with the kids—rather that be drawing silly mini comics with Idina, putting together puzzles with the twins, or taking turns goofing around with an unusually excitable Rashi. Dinner had been more leftovers, and then had come packing everything up for Pow and Ekko’s trip back home tomorrow morning. Now, it was nearing midnight and the house was silent.
Ekko returned downstairs shortly after, holding a small bag in his free hand. He sat beside Pow on the small loveseat, taking out four clear wineglasses and three dark blue bottles of expensive looking wine. Pow’s heart sank a bit, he had to have kept these in their room. But he hadn’t appeared intoxicated at all since that day, so maybe he had been keeping these hidden well enough to avoid his own temptations.
“I found these while I was at the old Last Drop. They were in the basement, and I remembered they were Vander’s favorite. I figured we could kick off your new marriage—and ours several years late I suppose—with something to remind us that he’s still here somewhere.” Ekko opened one bottle, all three corked and sealed, which soothed Pow’s anxious soul, and poured the crimson liquid into each glass, enough to finish off the first bottle. “I remember he let me try it out as a kid. I thought it was disgusting, but I suppose age would give us all some appreciation.”
“You hated this stuff? I thought it was great when I snuck a bottle from his shelf that one day,” Vi said, grinning as she sipped from her own glass. Pow saw the moment the nostalgia filled her eyes as the taste hit her tongue. Pow gave it a shot as well; the wine was dry, but sweet. Raspberry and strawberry. Two things Pow never thought about drinking together, but the taste was comforting in a way.
The four sat in silence as they sipped at their drinks, feeling the steady, invisible presence of Vander in the room with them. Outside, rain began to fall in a delicate drizzle, the smell of petrichor and ozone carrying the promise of worse to come, but the ambient sound only added to the calm weight of the room.
“Why didn’t you ever send any letters back?” Vi asked when she had finished her first glass, not yet refilling it, but Pow knew she would sooner or later. Sooner, most likely. “I just wanted to know that you were okay.”
Pow sighed, sitting her own half empty glass down. “Because I wanted you to be okay, and I wanted Ekko and I to be okay. And if there was one thing I’d known, it’s that the only way for that to be possible was for you and I to have nothing to do with each other.”
One memory in particular came to her. Pow had been four months pregnant with Idina at the time, bedridden and sick. Ekko had already been high strung, working to build up a living in their new home, having just bought their house two weeks prior after living in their blimp all that time. Had been stressed about preparing the home for the growth of their little family while Pow’s psychosis had been affected by her pregnancy, bringing about the return of her suicidal behaviors, then the revelation of only the month prior that the shimmer in her blood would complicate things severely. Pow had seen Ekko break that day, the frustration of building up a home and a job, of caring for her through her hallucinations, her sickness and violent shimmer-induced seizing fits, their mutual anxiety at leaving everything they’d ever known and almost instantly being thrust into such a turbulent life, only to check the mailbox and find a letter with Vi’s name on it. Pow risked it all, her baby, her own body, to rise from her bed so soon after a nasty fit to offer Ekko some comfort as he wailed and shivered on the floor, the letter crushed and unopened beside him. It was the first time she had seen Ekko let his guard down so completely, and she knew in that moment that the choice to flee Piltover would be a permanent one, not just for her own sake but for his as well.
“I wasn’t sure you were even getting my letters,” Vi continued, pouring another glass of wine. “But I understand why you didn’t respond. I don’t know what happened while you guys were gone, but I know that being here was hard. For both of you.”
“It was tough at first, I’ll admit it,” Pow said. “The worst was the trip here. I was so worried about what would happen when I showed up. But it’s been real. I’ve had a fun time.”
“It’s gotten easier the past three days,” Ekko admitted. “I still get nervous at times. But it’s not like it was at first. I’ve missed you guys, but I can’t say I regret not coming sooner.”
“What is it like there?” Caitlyn interjected. “In Ionia? I fear that’s one nation that hasn’t been seated with our council. We’ve allowed Mel to represent Noxus, Shoola, Demacia. Bulbok, Shurima. And though we have recently demoted Arden, he represented Freljord. And of course, professor Heimerdinger of Bandle City, and Sevika of Zaun. But Ionia’s pacifistic independence has kept them off of our shores. I don’t know much about it.”
“It’s a beautiful place,” Pow said. “There isn’t much for towns, not like Piltover and Zaun. Everyone just…does their own thing. We did make a few friends. Maya, Irelia, Rakan [authors note: NOT jhin bc I chose people at random to toss in and didn’t read the description until someone pointed it out…oops], but even them, we don’t see much of. But there’s so much magic. There’s nature. There’s hardly any fighting. They dont typically like outsiders, but thankfully they were gracious to us. And it’s been wonderful. It’s a good place to have a family.”
“And they’ve found a way to harness clean energy,” Ekko added. “I work in a factory, but it isn’t as oppressive as Zaun’s work. The air is cleaner, and the work I do doesn’t pollute it. We’ve found a way to exchange power with nature in a way. We use natural byproducts to power our tools, and those byproducts feed nature.”
Pow finished off her wine, not caring for more. It was delicious, but she wanted it to last. She smiled fondly at the thoughts of her home. At the thought that Ionia had become home, even if Vi wasn’t there with her. “What have you two been up to here while we were gone?”
Vi grimaced. “Lots of council work. Never thought I would spend my life filling out paperwork and being a diplomat. But it’s been nice. Zaun solidified their independence three years ago, once the cleanup and the damage control had finished.”
“Things with Noxus have calmed as well,” Caitlyn said, her wine remaining hardly touched. “Mel helped to sort things out between the nations. Azizi has taken initiative there as their leader alongside LeBlanc, and Mel has been working with them to forge a tenuous alliance. As for Vi and I, we’ve been steady. Work, spend our evenings together, repeat. I’m aware it’s a much duller life than she’d imagined for herself, but—”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way. All I wanted was equality for Zaun and we made it happen. Now all I care about is maintaining that. And you three, of course.”
“Oh, am I just an afterthought to you?” Pow teased. “Love you too sis.”
“But yes, things have been peaceful here.” Vi finished, ignoring Pow as she grinned. “I’m glad you get to be here now, to see how much things have changed. How the people have changed.”
Pow heard the unspoken words, that in her extended absence with Ekko, that she and Cait have grown, that the citizens of Piltover and Zaun had learned to get along as two separate peoples. It still shocked her, the fact that people had approached her the night previous, had held conversations with her, many without even so much as a judgemental shine to their eyes. It was exactly what Vander had fought for, all those years.
“I almost wish you could stay longer,” Caitlyn said. “I didn’t think I would enjoy this as much as I did.”
“What, you didn’t want to be stuck with cute ol’ me all week?” Pow said. “You wound me.”
“Well, last I saw you, things weren’t exactly well for any of the three of us.”
“You have no idea, Caity. But we’re here now. You all changed, and I guess I did too.”
“Actually, I wouldn’t say that,” Vi said. Pow frowned, and seeing Ekko almost in agreement with Vi sent barbs tightening around her heart. “That day, when we fought Noxus. You were the same girl you’d been as a kid; spunky and flashy. Always bringing a spectacle wherever you went. And you’re still the same now. I would say the only difference would be the people who surrounded you.”
Ekko nodded. “Even in the Other World, you were the same. It’s just who you are. You were never a bad person, you were just like the rest of us: a product of a shitty system.”
“A system that we’ve been working to fix.”
“But enough about that,” Caitlyn said. “I’ve been thinking. Would you be alright with Vi and I accompanying you to Ionia? It would give us additional time with you all, and we could see where you’ve been. As well as take time away to consummate our new marriage.”
“I would have said yes until that last sentence happened,” Ekko grumbled. “You’re not fucking in my house.”
“You’ve already fucked in mine!”
“Yes and you have a dozen rooms and thick walls! You’d be in our living room and I don’t have the money for a new couch when you’re done ruining ours!”
Pow turned to Vi, her face scalding. “I hate that this conversation is even happening. But I’m glad we can be like this.”
Vi nodded. “You never fully answered me earlier. You could have just sent us mail, we didn’t have to be so close. Why didn’t you at least let me know you were okay?”
Pow sighed, tuning out the other conversation happening beside her, suddenly angry. “Because things were bad when we left. Did you expect us to just up and leave and suddenly everything would be okay? No! I got pregnant almost immediately, ended up really sick as a result, and Ekko was unfortunately the only one who could keep things going while I was practically confined to our bed. We were both stressed, which only made me even sicker and made him have to work even harder, and things spiraled.” Pow hadn’t noticed the sudden dwindle of Ekko and Caitlyn’s friendly bantering as she continued her frustrated rave. “Having Idina nearly killed me, and from there we had to figure out how the hell we’d raise a family when we barely had enough food and space for ourselves, but I’m so sorry we didn’t respond to your letters! As soon as I was well enough, it was both of us at work until I got pregnant a second time and ended up once again sick and without any of my sanity intact. I wasn’t too concerned about responding to your mail when I was stuck hearing your voice in my head every day of my life—”
“Hey.” Ekko took her hand and the pink haze that she hadn’t noticed faded from her vision. “Breathe.”
“I’m gonna need more of that wine.”
“Nuh uh,” Ekko slid the bottles down towards Vi. “I cant drink the shit away, neither can you.”
“I hate you.”
“No you don’t. Just breathe. The letters don’t matter. We’re here now, and that’s what’s important.”
Pow leaned to the side, resting her head on Ekko’s shoulder and shutting her eyes. He was here, she was healthy and they were okay. She had reconciled with the past, but she was realizing that no amount of closure or comfort would fill in the cracks perfectly. The pain would be something she’d live with, that small bit of resentment may dull but never truly fade.
“I didn’t realize that pregnancy could be so difficult,” Caitlyn grimaced. “You’ve got me having second thoughts about our prospective children.”
“Woah, we’ve been married for a day, hold your horses cupcake,” Vi whined.
“It normally isn’t,” Pow muttered. “Whatever Shimmer shit the doctor pumped me full of didn’t react well to me having babies in my gut. The hallucinations were worse than ever, my mind had split to the point of me practically becoming a different person entirely, I was having seizures and fainting and shit, and I wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t. The kids are all Shimmer babies, but that just means they all ended up developmentally delayed; Idina is, and I’m thinking Rashi is too. The twins seem mostly fine, probably because there were two and not one. But basically, you aren’t enhanced like I am, so you should be fine.”
“Even so, I love my little nieces and nephews,” Caitlyn said. “I’m glad it’s official now. I think Lora has begun to take a liking to me.”
“They all love you,” Ekko said. “And if you do end up with your own kids, however they’d come about, I’m sure ours would love having some cousins to play with a couple times a year.”
“Well now we have to,” Vi grinned. “I’ll take any excuse to see you guys. I hope you have some room for us on that blimp of yours when we come with you to Ionia tomorrow.”
Pow’s eyes flew open. She sat up and glowered at Vi. “You were serious about that?”
“Obviously! I need to know what you two have been up too all these years!”
“Well, we won’t have space in our ship, but you’re welcome to take one of your own and follow us,” Ekko suggested. “There’s nothing too exciting to do there, not like there is here. That’s how we’ve liked it, but I’m sure with how busy you two like to be, you’ll get bored quick.”
“I’m sure we’ll manage. And if there isn’t space, we’ll find a bigger craft. We’ll take the smaller one and you guys could take the larger, since there are more of you,” Caitlyn suggested.
“Why don’t we all just take one?” Vi asked. “Wouldn’t that save us some hassle?”
“It would until Ekko and Powder have no way back to us because we rode it back here.”
“We can take one,” Pow said. “We’ll figure the rest out as it comes. But the kids will need their own room, they got cranky when all six of us were cooped in one little space.”
“I’m sure I can make that work. I’ll reach out to Mel in the morning to see if I can borrow one of her Noxian ships. They’re always built larger since Noxus tends to stuff them full of soldiers. But right now, I think I would like to rest. I’ve been so lazy all day that all I can think about is sleeping.”
Vi nodded as Caitlyn downed her wine quickly. Pow figured she was not a fan of drier spirits, but drank it entirely for the sisters’ sakes. The grimace she wore only confirmed that. As the two made their way upstairs to retire for the night, Ekko took Pow’s hand again.
“If it’s alright with you, there’s one more thing I want to do before we leave tomorrow. Walk with me?”
———————————
Pow followed Ekko all the way to Zaun, past familiar clubs and bars, down familiar streets until they were no longer familiar, towards the poorest sectors of Zaun where Pow had hardly dared to step foot while she’d lived here. The slum sector had been where the worst of Zaun hid, where the enforcers hadn’t dared to peek, where drugs and sex were their own currency. Small homes lined the streets, ramshackle and broken. Trash lined the streets and kids ran up and down, playing games of their own making. It seemed Zaun still had some recovering to do.
“This is nicer than it used to be,” Ekko murmured, seeing whatever look Pow must’ve had on her face. “There’s sunlight. The kids have beef on their bones, and they aren’t playing in hiding. But I’ll have to bring up the housing situation to Caitlyn later.”
Pow continued following Ekko down the sad street, watching the kids scatter and flee as they walked, until he suddenly stopped before one particular scene. Before them sat what must have been a house at one point, now reduced to blackened wood and crumbling brick. The termites were so plentiful she could see them from where they both stood fifty feet from the ruins. The remains seemed to have been scavenged long ago, leaving nothing of even the slightest value. Yet Ekko gazed upon it as if it were a castle of gold.
“This…was where I grew up. Before Benzo found me,” he muttered, numbness and painful acceptance in his tone. “This is exactly where I stood the night Kor died in my arms. Where I watched my home burn. I guess I just wanted to see it one more time.”
Pow leaned into Ekko’s good side, wrapping an arm around his waist. “If Kor were here, he’d be proud of you. So would your dad. You’ve worked so hard to make Zaun a livable place.”
“I just wish I’d had more time. There are still people we haven’t reached yet. If this were anywhere else in Zaun, this place would have already been excavated and something new would’ve popped up, even if it was just another brothel.”
“You did what you could, sweetheart. It’s up to the next round now. We did our time, and we’ve passed down our torches. And like you said, these children aren’t starving anymore. It’s progress. Don’t beat yourself up.”
Ekko sighed. Pow hung back as he approached the ruins, leaning on his cane when the ground beneath him became slick with ash, and held the scorched wood in his hand. It crumbled at his touch. Pow barely heard him as she spoke to the rubble.
“I miss you all every day. Even you, mom. You were a piece of shit, but I still miss you. I wish you all could have lived to see what Zaun’s become. I’m sure you went out with a smile, Dad. I hope I made your sacrifice worth it. I’ll never forget any of you. Even you, Ash, even though we never got to meet.
Pow was sure that Ekko only brought her along to keep him company on the way home. She felt like she would be better off stepping back for a while, letting Ekko reconcile with his oldest ghosts. But he had finished speaking about as quickly as he’d started. She supposed there wasn’t much to say to those who had left so early in his lifetime. She allowed Ekko this quiet intimacy, some moments to soak in the silence of the ruins until he was ready to make his way back to where she waited.
“You could’ve been a grandfather, dad. I’ve got four kids at home who are always asking about their grandparents. Kor and Ash could have been an uncle and aunt. The kids at least have aunts on their mom’s side, a grandmother too, but they’ll never get a dads side of the family. Why did you do it? You didn’t have to die that night.
“Things went to shit because of you. I found a second home and I lost that one too. You cursed me, you four. Every time I found a family, it was ripped away from me, and now…now I have one, and you aren’t here to see it. I even have a stepdaughter, but maybe you’ve met her. She’s over on your side of the veil. So I guess, you did get to see it, in some small capacity. I just…it’s been twenty one years, and I still have no idea why you had to do that. You could’ve walked away without a scratch that night. But I guess if you had, I wouldn’t be where I am now. So I guess I’ll just have to live with what you did. I love you, and I wish I still had you, but I don’t. So I guess…I’m just here to say goodbye. I have to get back to my wife and kids. I’ve done my best to give them the life you wanted for Kor and I. I love you, Dad. And Kor, and Ashley. I’ll see you all again soon.”
Pow allowed Ekko the mercy of a silent walk back to the manor, past the playing kids, the crumbling houses, the ghosts that lingered in the air, and a pair of eyes that stuck to their backs as the two of them exited the slum sector and approached the bridge once more, ready for a long, quiet night of rest and a new start that would rise with the sun.
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Caitlyn had come through once again, which had stopped being a shock to Pow. Outside the manor, a blue and white blimp lay parked in the lush courtyard. The Noxian colors had been exchanged with something tamer, likely so not to frighten the Ionian people when they crested the horizon. The bags had been packed the night before, and Caitlyn and Vi had done their own last minute preparation this morning, packing up clothing, daily use materials, and the spare tea set Idina had been promised. Pow, Vi and Ekko lingered in the yard, taking turns saying their goodbyes to Sevika while Caitlyn and Mel exchanged final words and requests for the four weeks the newlyweds had planned to spend in Ionia.
Pow was nervous, a feeling she had spoken to Ekko about already. They both shared in the uncertainty, the fear of bringing a piece of Piltover to their home, but they knew that this time, things would be different. They weren’t fleeing from a traumatic situation, they were simply vacationing with family. The kids were ecstatic to hear the news, that Vi and Caitlyn would be spending their honeymoon weeks with them, and had been all the more compliant in packing up and leaving than they had been the night before, when they had been so distraught at having to leave their aunts.
Vi wasted little time climbing aboard the blimp, waiting beside Caitlyn and staring down at Pow and Ekko. The two walked to the edge of the property, staring down at the expanse of Piltover, to the Bridge of Progress and the sprawling scrawl of Zaun beyond it. Pow was glad to be returning home, but she knew that the week here had been good for her. Ekko seemed to mirror the sentiment, sighing as he turned his back to the view a final time. They had come to the unspoken agreement that everything was said and done in this place, that any visits would be on Vi and Caitlyn’s time, as well as Sevika should the desire arise, and that they would never again be returning to this side of Runeterra. They had faced their traumas, had run from them, only to return and make peace with it all. They had found their closure, and there was nothing more to be gained. Their lives were in Ionia now. Pow followed Ekko back to the blimp, giggling at his relieved sigh when he saw a set of retractable steps extend from the bow of the ship rather than a ladder, and turned a blind eye to the final silent, lingering apparition of Silco in the corner of her eye. The last of her ghosts, the only one Isha hadn’t managed to do away with that night the letter came in. He faded from sight like a cloud in the evening sky, making a final silent exit, and he too would remain here, never to be faced again. And as the large blimp parted from the ground below, Pow knew that this coming month would be an amazing one.