Open wounds
"Vi, it’s not even noon. Don’t tell me you’re already drunk," Caitlyn finally broke the silence, her voice weighed down by sadness and disappointment. Standing in the doorway, she looked at Vi with a mix of judgment and pity. But there was also anger in her voice. There was a lot of anger, carefully suppressed by Caitlyn's exemplary self-control—a skill she had spent years perfecting. But now, it seemed, all that effort was finally paying off. If there was one person who didn’t deserve to bear the brunt of her frustration, it was Vi. But her reaction was, at best, superficial. She cast Caitlyn a fleeting glance before turning back to the closet mirror, her reflection staring directly at her instead.
"Im fine when you say you need time for yourself. We all do need it at times. I'm also totally fine, if you don't want to speak about it. But Vi... You need help. I want to help you, but you won’t let me, and I don’t know what else to do." Her pleading voice was full of despair, as she walked slowly to the bed and eased herself down beside Vi. The sickly sweet smell of alcohol lingered in the air, unpleasant, but she did her best to ignore it. She waited patiently as Vi gradually leaned against her. Caitlyn felt the soft, fluffy strands of pink hair against her cheek. Despite her anger and frustration, she gave in, leaning her head gently against Vi's. Sometimes, it wasn’t romantic kisses or wild embraces that brought comfort—it was the little things, the quiet moments, that felt the most intimate.
It was almost a relief that this time Vi seemed to welcome her quiet attempt at comfort. For once, she didn't fight back with screams or frustration. But Caitlyn recognized the bittersweet truth behind the moment: Vi was exhausted - worn down by the nearly endless pain. Almost fittingly, she let out a heavy sigh, carrying the weight of her own, still unspoken struggles. It was far from over. Vi had to find her way back, but silence alone wasn't the answer. Because there was still an elephant in the room that needed to be addressed—just one among a whole herd. It took her a moment to summon the courage to break the silence. Just as her breathing calmed, her throat tightened, as if her body was trying desperately to cling to the fragile silence.
"This won't be easy Caitlyn..." She told herself as she prepared to address the elephant in the room. But it had to be done. Now or never.
"Seriously, Vi. The drinking has to stop... If you need to cry, it's okay. I’m here for you. I’ll cry with you." As she spoke, she placed a supportive hand on Vi's thigh, her touch gentle and reassuring. Vi's only response was a low, short grunt - a sound that could just as easily be mistaken for a growl.
"She's dead, cupcake. No matter what you try to do. She exploded... She just exploded..." She spoke as heavy tears streamed down her face, her voice rough and dry. Caitlyn gently reached out and pulled her closer into her comforting embrace. "So don't even try again to make me believe that she'd survived"
Two days had passed since Caitlyn opened Jinx's box - a Pandora's box of memories and pain. She had sworn to leave it alone, not to add to Vi's burden. Yet here they were, sitting together in her bedroom, clinging to each other in fragile silence. Deep inside, Caitlyn gritted her teeth as her eyes met Vi's glassy, vacant gaze.
"Okay..." Caitlyn whispered, her voice barely audible. "But promise me... promise me I'll get the old Vi back. Because... I need you. I really do."
"I'm always by your side, Cupcake," Vi said, trying to reassure her with a forced, shallow smile. But the sight of it only made her look sadder than usual. Then silence returned, enveloping the two in their intimate embrace. A lukewarm breeze blew in through the open door. Her father sat on the balcony again, sipping his afternoon tea - one of the many traditions her family had brought with them from Ionia. Over time, these customs had blended with the habits of Piltover to create something uniquely their own. And indeed, Caitlyn would like nothing better than to sit on the balcony with Vi and her father and enjoy the day. Or at least pretend that everything was all right when it really wasn't. But right now it was too much to ask. Instead, she just held on to her and after a while, her hand moved gently to Vi's cheek, caressing it with tender care.
"Its my fault..." Vi said suddenly, her voice raw and strained. "Her death is my fault..." She raised her head only to bury it in her hands with a groan of frustration, her elbows digging uncomfortably into her thighs.
"No, it's not," Caitlyn said sharply, jumping to her knees in front of Vi. She cupped Vi's face tightly in her hands, her voice softening as she added, "Nothing is your fault. Nothing..." She pressed her forehead gently against Vi's, feeling the warm tears trickle down her cheeks onto her own hands.
"No, you don't understand. She wanted me to come with her. To leave Vander behind. To come to safety with her. She knew that we couldn't help him anymore. And that he never wanted us to risk our lives for him. But I didn't listen... To both of them. And..."
"Vi, stop it," Caitlyn urged, her voice firm this time, not soft. And it sounded more like an order she would give to a disobedient citizen than to her grieving girlfriend. Her bright blue eyes locked onto Vi's tearful gaze, trying desperately to break through.
"Powder didn’t listen when I told her to stay behind..." Vi completely ignored her intervention, her voice heavy with guilt. "And everything went to shit when she decided to follow us. It was our fault... My fault... We should have more believed in her. Then she wouldn't have tried to help us..." She spoke as though admitting to a crime, her words weighed down by unbearable regret. Watching her crumble like this - broken and defeated - was nothing short of heartbreaking.
At first, Caitlyn was confused by Vi's disjointed confession. Words that didn't make any sense until she realised: Vi was talking about her past. The wounds she had buried so deeply and refused to face, especially after Jinx's death - or rather, her disappearance. Without allowing those old scars to heal, how could Vi ever face the weight of recent events?
"I always dream of how I left her..." Vi confessed, her voice shaking as she met Caitlyn's attentive gaze.. "It haunts me... I didn’t want to leave her. I just needed a moment—to clear my head, to catch my breath... But by the time I returned, Silco was already there. And Marcus... your police chief, he took me with him. Arrested me. Because he was too cowardly to kill me"
"I'm glad he was a coward" Caitlyn said trying to smile at her "I'm so grateful he didn't. That may was his best decision as a police commander. Otherwise I'd never met you... I can't live in such a world..."
"Just because you can't be without me, Cupcake," Vi replied with a faint, almost bittersweet smile, catching Caitlyn off guard.
"That's right. Because I love you. I have since the first day we met - " And then it happened. Without warning, Vi pulled her close, capturing her lips in a passionate kiss. When they finally parted, her voice was low and husky: "I want you now, Cupcake."
This sentence penetrated every fibre of her body. The sentence she had been waiting for so eagerly since her return. But it came at the wrong time. Her father was on the balcony, well within earshot of any potential love play. And the officer in her couldn’t ignore the real motive behind Vi’s seduction: avoiding her problems rather than confronting them. Caitlyn swallowed hard and chose, for now, to put on a good face for a bad situation.
"Vi, stop!" Caitlyn's voice wavered between shock and urgency. "My father is still on the balcony—and the door is open!" Stunned by Vi's sudden change of mood, Caitlyn struggled to process what she'd just heard. Her body fought against her resolve, every fibre begging her to give in, but her mind - thankfully still in control - knew better. This would have to wait, as much as it pained her, as much as she knew she would hate herself for it.
"We’ll have to wait until later,"Caitlyn said, meeting Vi's bright blue eyes with a teasing smile. With a frustrated groan, Vi threw herself backwards onto the bed. "I could really use a distraction right now."
"And I’m more than willing to help you with that," Caitlyn replied with a playful wink. "But not until my father has cleared the balcony and upper floor." She lay down beside her, and together they sprawled across the bed, gazing up at the starry mosaic adorning the canopy of their four-poster bed.
"Why are you so eager anyway..." Vi’s voice softened as she finally spoke, breaking the peaceful silence they had shared while lying together, wrapped in each other’s embrace, "I don't get it. What's different now?"
"It's you..." Caitlyn murmured, her voice tinged with thought. "I'm not that person anymore... and it's all because of you."As she continued, Vi's hand moved closer, her fingers brushing gently against the back of Caitlyn's hand. The touch sent a thrilling, electrifying current through her.
"I wish you two had met under different circumstances. You would have liked each other..." Vi said with a faint smile, allowing herself, just this once, to imagine the happy world she had dreamed of ever since leaving Stillwater
"Yeah, what makes you so sure?" Caitlyn asked curiously, and genuinely surprised.
"Trust me, I know my sister. She would have liked you the moment she realized you loved her just as much as I do." Vi said, and something in her voice sounded very convincing. Maybe it was true. Maybe if she'd gotten the time needed to talk things out with Jinx, and maybe just maybe, managed to undo Silco's brainwash, she might be right. Maybe, in another universe, she and Jinx might have become friends.
"It was my fault... I shouldn't have followed you," Caitlyn said, her voice laden with bitterness and regret. "I didn't know your past. I had no right to be there. I ruined everything... You might have saved her if it weren’t for me showing up."
"You couldn't know..." Vi said, gripping her left hand tightly. "Powder didn't know... It was like always, the wrong shit happening at the wrong time... And I'm sick of it," she said, punching the soft mattress with her left fist. So hard that it sent shockwaves through Caitlyn's entire body.
"Maybe it's not too late," Caitlyn said after a brief pause. She knew these weren’t the wisest or most helpful words, but in that moment, they were all she could find.
"No!" Vi cut her off, agitated, as she pushed herself up. "Just stop!" Despite the alcohol clouding her senses, she could still think clearly enough—a sign she hadn’t drunk nearly enough to fully drown her sorrows in that sweet, treacherous liquid.
"What if you’re wrong? What if she’s really gone, and I end up dredging it all up again, only to… only to go through it all over again?"
"I know, but... what if? What if there’s still a chance she’s..." Caitlyn hesitated, her voice barely above a whisper
"And guess what? That’s the problem. When I thought she was dead, at least I knew. But now… now I don’t know what to believe anymore." Vi’s voice cracked as she continued, her emotions spilling over. "I spent seven years in a prison cell—thanks to Silco and Marcus—not knowing where Powder... Jinx... even was." She paused, her voice dissolving into frustration.
"You just don’t get it, Cupcake..." Vi’s voice trembled, sharp and brittle, her fists clenched in frustration. "If she’s still alive, why didn’t she come back?" That question gnawed at her, the reason she couldn’t accept Caitlyn’s stubborn belief that Jinx might have survived. Because if her sister really was alive, it meant only one thing: Jinx had abandoned her—again. Just like when she left her in the prison cell.
"I don’t want to hear another word about this..." Vi snapped, her voice strained with frustration. Once again she found herself sitting on the edge of the bed, her face buried in her hands.
Caitlyn was stunned, her emotions a whirlwind of anger and frustration.Her heart plummeted, sending a sharp jolt through her body. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. "No!" she countered firmly, jumping out of bed and standing in front of Vi, her stance almost menacing. Her heart pounded as her mind relinquished control, allowing emotions - buried since her return from Noxus - to surge to the surface.
"I won't ask you again, Cait. Let it go," Vi warned, her voice quivering with anger and frustration as shivers ran down her spine.
"What is wrong with you? Shouldn't you be the one convincing me that your sister... Jinx... Powder... is still alive? The one who would never accept her death? Shouldn’t I be the one urging you to let go? To accept that she might be gone forever, so you don’t cling to false hope?" Caitlyn’s voice trembled as she unleashed her tirade. Her lips quivered, but she wasn’t finished. The words had to come out, no matter how much they hurt. “Even though I still hate her for what she’s done—for the pain she’s caused me. But I'm willing to find her. For you...” Caitlyn clenched her fists, anger and frustration bubbling to the surface as she finally let her emotions take over.
"This isn’t the Vi I know—the Vi who would do anything to get her sister back," Caitlyn said, her voice trembling with suppressed frustration. She had had enough of this. "Without you, I have no one. My mother is dead, Jayce is gone… I’m suffering too. But I have you, Vi. That’s why I didn’t fall apart—because you’re here to catch me. And I thought it was the same for you..." Caitlyn’s gaze bore into Vi, who hesitated before finally lifting her head to meet her eyes. Her blank, desperate gaze lingered on Caitlyn’s pleading expression. She knew Caitlyn was right. She had to find a way to move on - no matter what it was.
"Just don’t drink yourself to death before I’m back. That’s all I ask you for…" Caitlyn said and didn’t wait for Vi’s reaction. She turned sharply on her heel, a plan already taking shape in her mind.
"Cait, wait…!" Vi slurred, her voice cracking as she stumbled after her. But Caitlyn was already halfway down the stairs, her retreating footsteps echoing through the room. The rest of Vi's sentence hung uselessly in the air, "... didn't mean it. Fuuuuuuck!"
She was on a mission - eager, if not desperate, to bring both of them back. To pull Vi off her self-destructive path of grief and mourning. Despite her deepest fears and lingering resentment at what might await her, she pressed on. For Vi. Maybe even for Jinx. But certainly and most of all, for herself. Vi was the love of her life, and without her, she felt incomplete. Perhaps she had never been whole without Vi to begin with.
"Jinx... what am I getting myself into?" she murmured, taking a deep breath as the warm summer breeze brushed against her skin. With renewed resolve, she stepped onto the streets and set her sights on her first target: Piltover's council building.