A/N: Hey everyone, this chapter took a little while longer to put out than normal due to school, but I'll try to go back to weekly chapters as soon as I can. Enjoy!

For some, time is completely linear and moves in a concrete fashion every single day. It doesn't disturb your thoughts or change the way you act whatsoever. While there is no way to 'pause' time, there are many people who suffer from psychological drama in their life and they feel that time refuses to move forward. The feeling of time being frozen for someone would be akin to how someone might feel when freezing to death in the arctic – you do not feel pain, but you slowly wither away until all is lost. Once in his life, Ezreal had wondered what would happen if time began to freeze for him. When he was free of guilt after meeting with Lux that day, he felt color return back to his life and wondered about what he might've missed in that time where he felt no external motive to keep on moving forward. Now that he was a student in the Champions Academy, every day was a new little bit of his future storyline that he didn't want to stop. It was hard for Ezreal to imagine how anyone could possibly feel lonely or even 'cold' when surrounded by such awe inspiring people and décor in the Champions Academy at Ionia. It might have been because he had never visited another land before, or maybe it was the fact that he was a sheltered kid who wasn't off on his own. Ezreal truly wondered what it might feel like to not have the same advantages that he did coming into the Academy.

That's why he got some chills when he thought of Lux, because she was someone who helped re-ignite his passion, not for his own sake but for hope in the future. Thanks to that hope, he worked hard enough to get into the Academy and start right back on his path to become a Champion. The first time that he met Lux, he could not even begin to think that Lux would be the type of person to become a Champion. She was very shy, and seemed so obedient to her parent's wishes. What changed inside of Lux that day, Ezreal wondered?

Ezreal's thought process was interrupted as soon as Lux walked into the room and sat by him.

"Heya! You look tired, what's up?"

Ezreal was thrown off by surprise, and tried to shake it off. "Oh hey Lux! Ah, I guess I'm just tired from working a lot last night. I got a ton of new perspectives on my Rift Project, and I think I have a better understanding of what I wanna do now."

Lux smiled, and pushed her bookbag right underneath her desk. "That's great, I haven't put a lot of hours into it but I think it's been pretty obvious what I want for my profile."

The rest of the class started rolling in super-fast, and Ahri walked by Ezreal and waved at him. "Yo, Ahri! Have you met my friend, Lux?"

Ahri walked over to Lux and oddly shook her head. "I don't really know most of the people here still, so I guess that figures."

Lux got out of her seat, and bowed to Ahri. "Pleased to meet you, my name is Luxanna from the Royal Heir of Demacia!"

Ahri smiled and laughed a bit to herself. "I'm Ahri…of…Ionia!"

Both of them giggled like teenage girls, though still having some sense that Ezreal was connected to the two of them in some way. Both of them eagerly wanted to know what the opposite meant to him, but Ezreal interrupted, saying, "Come to think of it…not everyone came out to the mountains on that weekend so I think there's a couple people I still haven't met."

Lux immediately struck the air with her fist in excitement, saying, "YEAH! Ezreal, you haven't met my brother, have you?" Ezreal shook his head, and suddenly Lux pulled a really hefty guy from the corner of the room to his desk. Ezreal just looked up at him and felt terrified to even talk in the same direction of this guy. Not only was he a decent looking guy, but he was built and looked like he was a mercenary from an action movie. "This is my dorky big brother, Garen!"

Ezreal remembers meeting Garen that one time he saw Lux in the Summer, and he was doing pretty hefty yard work, but he didn't strike Ezreal for the super shy type. Now all Ezreal could think of was how their parents raised them to make them both so similar, and yet radically different at the same time.

"H-Hey…" Garen greeted himself, but looked slightly to the left, while whispering to Lux, "You didn't say there would be women…"

"Ahah, dummy! You'll get over it!" Lux pushed Garen towards Ahri's direction, and he trampled Ahri to the ground with his overpowering might.

His head fell right underneath Ahri's chest, and he got up immediately and started bowing his head over and over. "FORGIVE ME! I DIDN'T MEAN TO VIOLATE YOU! I'LL PUNISH MYSELF ACCORDINGLY!"

Ahri dusted herself off, and she got up to look Garen back in the eyes. 'Damn, why is every dude in this place like…super hot?' She laughed while trying to lighten the mood, and said, "Oh, don't worry big guy!"

"OUT OF THE WAY! GAWD!" Ahri was shoved forward into Garen's hands, and he immediately tried to get Ahri off him. Ahri looked over to see who it was that shoved her, and it was yet another girl that she hadn't met. "Literally have no time for idiots like you."

"Excuse me?" Ahri walked up to her, and crossed her arms in discontent. "To whom do I owe the pleasure, or displeasure I should say?"

"Pfft, I guess you'll need to know my name because you'll be hearing me enough. The name is Janna, and I'm just here to claim my rightful spot as the most decorated women in history! To me, you four other girls in this class are just competition."

Ahri gritted her foxlike teeth, saying, "Challenge accepted."

Ezreal got in between them to try and stop any fight that would break out. He felt nervous, being the only guy in the corner at this moment but he kept on being persistent.

Ryze came in at that time and everyone went back to their seats. "Good morning, everyone. We're going to start where we left off last class when we were talking about the Noxian defeat at the fleet in Zaun…"

'Another history lesson, jeez it's not easy to stay away for these.' Ezreal looked over to Lux, who was diligently writing down all the info that Ryze was displaying off the board. Lux was already a girl who seemed pretty devoted to her studies, but it was hard for Ezreal to imagine that even she finished her project faster than Ezreal was planning to finish his. It seemed like for a long time, Lux was also a sheltered girl who rarely got to explore the world. Would she use her profile to go back to her roots, or try to be more outgoing as she had been lately? Ezreal pondered some of these questions he had of Lux, up until a few moments passed by and everyone was leaving the room.

'W-What…did class end?'

"You ready to go, Ez?" Ezreal looked up from his desk, to see the ever-so luminescent and beautiful smile from Lux as she extended out her hand to Ezreal. Instead of wondering more about what had just happened, he accepted Lux's hand and walked out of the room. Ahri, feeling intrigued, had followed the two of them to the cafeteria where they sat and ate sandwiches while talking about the past.

"We haven't really talked since that first day we met each other, huh?" Ezreal initiated the conversation while resting back in his chair a bit. He wasn't terribly hungry, but he did want to at least talk with Lux a bit.

"Yeah! If it was me, I'd say you were avoiding me, haha!" Lux gnawed into her sandwich while laughing. "So, what have you been up to? Do you like Ionia?"

Ezreal started drifting once more. 'Whoa, it's happening again. What is this feeling that's grabbing hold of me?'

Lux started snapping her fingers as Ez laid on the table. "Heyyyy, wake up!"

"Gah!" Ezreal put both his hands on his face. "I'm sorry, I guess I'm not feeling myself lately."

Lux felt a little sad for Ezreal and thought he just needed more sleep. "Do you just want to talk some other time?" She was about ready to stack up her plates and leave, but Ezreal stopped her with his hand.

"Nah, I'm fine!" Ezreal immediately took his hand back and smiled. "I was just hoping to ask you some questions and catch up."

Ahri felt a little less suspicious, but still he didn't know what Lux wanted from Ezreal so she continued to stay, while remaining out of sight of the two

Lux rested her arms on the table. "You know me, I'm an open book!"

Ezreal thought of how he should word the question, but it was something that he couldn't really dodge. So, he loosened his shoulders a bit and asked, "Do you love me?"

Lux, sipping on coffee while hearing this, nearly choked on it and started coughing a bunch. She looked really pale, and just tried to laugh it off. "Uh, hahaha! You didn't used to be this forward and everything…I mean like, wow...Umm…" Lux was trying to hide her blushing face as she searched through her emotions. Ahri's ears perked up tightly, pointing towards the sky as they awaited the response from Lux. The suspense was killing all three of them, and Lux just burst randomly. "C-Can we talk about something else?"

Ezreal didn't hesitate to reply, "Yeah! I know, super weird question! So uhh…" This time, Ezreal wanted to really ask Lux some important questions that he was pondering. "Have you ever felt time slow down, or even speed up around you?"

Lux gave quite an amusing look in response, but she understood what Ezreal was saying. "Time doesn't really stop or move at different speeds than normal, but if I caught what you were saying…Yes, I have experienced time freeze right before my eyes."

'How did she know so quickly? Can she read my mind?'

"When I was a little girl, the days didn't seem to separate at all. I would wake up, eat, do everything that my parents told me to, interact only with the few butlers that I worked with, and then went to sleep. I had never got to experience the world, so I figured that this was just a normal life and that no one really got to go on the outside, but then I got to see the world for what it really was! I can now step outside and see the sun, and know that I'm moving forward." Lux took a sip of her cup of coffee, and with a small glance in the corner of her eye she caught Ahri attempting to listen in on the two of them, but she didn't say a word. Lux tried to use this to her advantage. "You mind if I ask you some questions now?"

"Go for it."

Lux put both her hands under her chin as she grinned slightly. "So what exactly is Ahri to you?"

Ezreal hesitated a bit, but he knew that he could not hide it forever. "I think I like her. You know, I've never really met someone else like her who started from Rock Bottom but has the continued resolve to push forward as she does."

Lux's grin started shaking, as she thought of her next question. "She's certainly a cute one, but how would she compare to me?"

"Huh?" Ez had no idea what Lux was insinuating, and just looked at her with a confused face. "Well…I mean, her boobs are quite bigger."

Lux just sat there in silence for a couple moments, her eyes closed and her head tilted downwards.

"Whoa, you okay?"

Lux thought to herself, 'I don't know why, but that statement made me quite unusually angry for more than one reason.' She faced upward and tried to get to the point once more. "I sort of meant…like, do you like me as you like her?"

Ezreal shrugged, as he didn't know himself at the time who he would say that he likes the most, or if he even likes Lux on the same level that he likes Ahri. This was never a situation that he thought he would ever have to handle, so he searched inside of himself to find out a way to answer her question. "Lux, you obviously know I like you, that wasn't the reason that I asked you to come here. It didn't strike me until recently that I affected you so much that summer day until you showed sincere care for me and helping me regain my good side. That's something that I will absolutely always be indebted to you by, and I will always be your friend. When it comes to anything else that I feel…I…"

"Say no more." Lux put a finger up to Ezreal's lips and smiled back at him. "I don't need immediate answers from you, Ez. If I can do something, even indirectly, and it makes you happy, then that makes me happy as well. I'm obviously still a bit shy myself, since I've been secluded from talking to other boys for most of my life. Like my mother always use to tell me, 'what happens in the future is ultimately for the good.' I will be happy no matter how much I mean to you."

"L-Lux…" Ezreal was completely lost for words at this point. "You're so well-spoken and kind, I could never dislike you."

Lux bowed and took her plates as she left the table. "Until next time, see you later Ez!"

Ahri could see now that Ezreal had some past material interactions with Lux, but it was mostly limited and friendly in nature. This pleased her to know that she wasn't being cheated on, but now she almost felt a little sad for Lux since she could see that Lux was a very sincere girl. It didn't stay on her mind for too long, however, and she left the lunch area shortly after Ezreal left.

'To feel frozen in time, as if nothing around you matters…is that really how it is? I wonder if it's like a life trigger that sets off when you feel a certain way. I can't say what would cause this feeling inside of me, however.'