Luxanna Crownguard, The Lady of Luminosity, Light of Demacia, trudged through the Demacian Estate in The Institute of War feeling mentally, physically and spiritually exhausted. Her delegation was returning to Demacia in the morning. The return would normally have been the focus of her thoughts. At the moment, though, all she wanted was to strip down and lie in her bed...and maybe pull her covers over her head. Reality was not feeling particularly indulgent.

Heavy steps sounded in an adjacent corridor as she passed, approaching her. Inwardly, she cringed. The familiar sound made her anxious and upset in a way only it could. She did not want this argument. Not now. Wistfully, she remembered when the same person's steps had once been a source of comfort, before the League, before the Royal Academy. It seemed such a short time ago still, but it was not.

Before the steps could reach her corridor, she straightened and painted her usual smile on her face.

"Luxanna." Garen's stern voice carried clearly through the corridors of the Demacian Estate from behind her. She spun to face him, focusing on a point just above his head.

"Garen!" Lux beamed. "How was your dinner?"

A cold stare was his only answer. Her smile faded slightly. She was tired, and effective as her expressions were with all others, it seemed he could, on occasion, see through them still. Or maybe he simply chose to not always believe them.

"Bro-"

"No Luxana." He said. "I expect better of you as a daughter of House Crownguard." She flinched and fought down a familiar mix of anger and irritation.

"Better?" She asked, her expression full of confusion. Restrained anger painted his. "When have I ever comported myself poorly?"

"This is the sort of thing I speak of. You know what you've done, Luxanna, and this game of yours does you no credit."

"I don't-"

"A Crownguard should not cavort with the enemy!"

"I did not cavort!" She said, indignant. Her irritation, her anger began showing clearly on her face. That upset her even more. He was one of the only people who could break her control so easily. He always seemed to know precisely what it would take.

"Fraternize if you prefer! It makes no difference. You may be content to forget on occasion, but Jericho Swain is the emperor of Noxus, sworn enemy of Demacia, of House Crownguard."

"Brother, I did not dine with him for the pleasure of his company. I-"

"Steel yourself Luxanna! I understand not what comfort your meetings with him bring you, but you must cast them aside. You must."

"Comfort?" She asked. The notion felt actually offensive. Her face perfectly mirrored her emotions now, but she was more interested in taking his argument apart then caring at the moment. "You believe I had dinner with him because I was seeking his comfort?"

"I believe what I see is the truth. I do not understand it, but Luxanna. Cast. It. Aside."

"Cast aside? Like you have your obsession with Katarina?"

"How dare you!" He shouted. Luxanna winced. His voice boomed through the hallways. She was sure anyone who had been sleeping in the wing was no longer. "You of all people! Others I expect to entertain the tawdry imaginings spread by the journals, but of you I expect better! She is a living symbol of all I oppose! How could I not but face her when given the chance?"

Liar. She thought. She was ashamed she thought it, but she did. And to my face. She's more to you than that. Part of her wanted to say so. Part of her wanted to tear him down at the lie for the catharsis of it.

"How is it that you're comfortable with your attempted fraternizations, your hypocrisy, but not this? Where is your absolute adherence to this absolute system?" She wanted to ask. "How is that different?" She asked instead. She refused to let her anger to make her so petty. Fighting it down was difficult. He was wrong, very wrong, but he was also hurt. She had to put this argument away quickly, for both their sakes. There was no winning these arguments of theirs, only minimizing the deepening of the rift between them they were an aspect of.

"I face her on the battlefield Luxanna, not for dinner."

Shyvana and Jarvan IV entered the corridor, concern on their faces. She was sure the sound of their argument had drawn them." She ignored them.

"Oh? And what is your battlefield?"

"Anywhere I can face her with sword drawn!"

"And what do you expect is mine?"

"Any battle Demacia has with Noxus."

"And there, you are wrong."

"What reason could you have for-" Garen began to ask, but Luxanna didn't let him finish.

"I am a strategist, Garen. Every word, every exchange, every letter, that is my battlefield."

"And this battle must be fought in a dress over dinner? Is battle truly the appearance you believe that lends?"

Appearance? She thought, anger flaring up. Is what I actually do worth so little to him? She looked away from him, struggling to contain herself when a look Shyvana was giving her caught her eye. "Your rage is not wrong," it seemed to say. "Embrace it." She gathered her anger, not letting it explode but collecting it into an icy rage. She looked Garen in the eyes.

"Truth does not care what appearance it gives. It remains true. Would you like to learn what my battle in a dress over dinner won? Confirmation on my 23rd theory regarding Kalamanda. Certainty that our agent in the Ironspine Mountains has been detected and our agent in Mogron Pass has not. Knowledge of arcana governing Jericho Swain's control of his flock. No 'appearance' can change that."

"And what have we lost?"

"I have some likely guesses. They'll be presented in my report."

"No, Luxanna. What have you lost?"

"Your trust." She replied.

"Luxanna-." He began but paused as Jarvan placed his hand on Garen's shoulder. Garen looked to him questioningly.

"You're not wrong to worry for her," he said, "but this is a battle you cannot help her with. This is a battle she can only win or lose on her own."

Luxanna looked at them incredulously. She wanted to say something, to defend herself, but she could say nothing against her prince. She bowed her head. "With permission." She asked. Jarvan nodded and she turned to walk away.

"Luxanna." Garen called after her, then, in a softer voice. "Lux." She paused a moment, his softer voice the one she now so rarely heard. It reminded her of the boy who had once been her defender, her champion. She felt a knife twist in her stomach at the memory. Part of her wanted to answer. Part of her wanted to try to reach out and try to bridge the divide that had grown between them, but she knew they could never have the conversation she hoped for, that she had been longing for, so she stayed silent instead.

"I will always be here for you." He said. His voice was tinged with desperation but still reassuring. "Whether you believe you can turn to me or not, I will always be here." She left the corridor. Footsteps that were not Garen's followed behind her as she walked out to one of the estate's decks overlooking Demacia's open gardens. She looked out onto the flowering trees still beautifully lit by the afterglow.

She was sure it was Shyvana who had followed her. Shyvana, who had encouraged her to embrace her anger. Shyvana, who now stood behind her, saying nothing. She thought part of Shyvana wanted Lux to say something, to question her presence. The other part wondered if she should say something herself. Luxanna understood. She both wished Shyvana would say something to her and wished Shyvana would leave her alone. They both stood there, torn, as the afterglow faded. By the time Luxanna could bring herself to turn around, Shyvana had long since gone.

"Cowards, both of us." She said and sat down.

Luxanna Crownguard sat on the deck of the Demacian estate, looking out onto its open gardens. Her delegation was leaving in the morning, and they expected no visitors, so the gardens were unlit, leaving them quiet and dark. She sat alone. "They're wrong." She said to no one in the darkness. "I'm not like them. I'm not."

Epilogue:

Night had long since fallen, but Luxanna Crownguard still sat alone in the dark and quiet of her delegation's open gardens. She normally disliked being maudlin, but the thought of going somewhere noisier, brighter seemed disconcertingly uncomfortable. She sighed.

An enormous ball of blue flame streaked into the gardens and exploded in front of her giving off neither heat nor force but a tangle of limbs and fits of giggling. At its heart was a woman half on fire. An enormous shadow bear flew from the site of impact, landing on its face just in front of her. A moment later Annie Hastur came bounding over it.

"Lux! Lux!" She squealed, her voice filled with joy. "Ahri just discovered THE BEST spell! Wanna come? Wanna come?"

Lux stared for a moment, stunned. She looked up and saw what she had first thought was a woman half on fire was a beautiful woman who's nine tails were presently made of flame and had foxfire dancing around her. She was wearing a broad smile on her face. Lux looked back to Annie, who had just picked up Tibbers, again masquerading as a mere child's toy, and whose face was beaming.

"Pleaaase!" The young girl begged. A brilliant smile welled up from deep within Luxanna Crownguard and spread across her face.

"You bet!" She answered.