Riven woke up to an empty bed, Irelia had gotten up long before her and most likely gone to take care of her duties as she always did. Riven had already developed the bad habit of sleeping in until the middle of the day due to her never leaving the house. She sat up, pushing the covers off of her body. In the corner of her eye she could see the clothes she had left on the floor the previous day had been neatly folded and placed on the dresser for her, next to them was the tub of salve and a fresh roll of bandages.
While dressing herself and her wounds, Riven noticed a pile of papers on the desk, walking towards them. In the top right hand corner of the paper was a insignia that she recognised, it was one belonging to the Captain of the Guard, Riven and her men had intercepted a few similar reports with this insignia at the beginning of their invasion. She couldn't read much of what was on the papers but there were some words that she recognised, it was a casualty count for the war.
Riven felt her fingers begin to tremble seeing the large figures in front of her, it had been far more devastating in the amount of civilian deaths than even she had thought. She clenched her fists, a feeling of guilt settling in under her skin.
"Why'd you do it?" The words made Riven jump, knocking some of the stuff on Irelia's desk over. She turned to the speaker behind her, a small girl who was maybe five or six years old. Riven swallowed hard, the ringing noise in her ears creeping up on her. She recognised this girl from a village Fury Company had invaded not long after entering Ionia. Riven had struck down the girl's father while she watched. The piercing stare the girl had given her then the same as the one she was getting now.
"Why?" The girl repeated. Riven's mouth was dry, her breathing quick and uneven, she couldn't respond. All she could do is return the stare the girl gave her.
Riven's trance was broken by Irelia opening the door to the bedroom, seeing Riven leaning back on the desk, pale as a sheet. The Ionian quickly crossed the room, worry on her face, moving to embrace the petrified Noxian in front of her. Riven moved away, refusing to let Irelia touch her, the Noxian's eyes glued to the wooden floor.
"Riven, what's wrong?" Irelia moved again, trying to touch Riven's arm only for the Noxian to pull away at the last second again. Riven pushed one of the report papers towards her instead of responding. Irelia looked at it, seeing that it was the casualty report. "I thought you couldn't read."
"I can read enough to know what I did." Irelia's look of worry turned into one of sadness, knowing the guilt she must feel. Riven moved past Irelia, heading for the door.
"Where are you going?"
"I want to be alone." Irelia stepped forward, reaching out to stop Riven from leaving. "I said I want to be alone." Riven repeated in an authoritative shout. The Noxian slammed the door behind her as she left, leaving Irelia alone and confused. Riven's behaviour had done a complete turn back to what it had been weeks ago, confusing the Ionian. She seemed to be getting worse, not better. Irelia decided for now to let Riven have her space, hoping that in a few hours, her mood may have changed.
A few hours later, Irelia realised she had been wrong. After several attempts at getting Riven to answer the door, even making food to make it more enticing, Irelia sighed in frustration. Eventually she gave into her own annoyance and got the master key to unlock the door from the outside, finding the Noxian lying on the bed in the dark, staring blankly out the window at the night sky.
"What do you want?" Riven snapped, not even turning to look at Irelia.
"I want to know what has made you behave like this. I want to help you. I cannot help you if you won't speak to me."
"I don't want your help."
"Why is that?" Irelia probed, stepping closer to the bed slowly.
"Because I don't deserve it!" Riven shouted, finally turning to look her in the eyes. Irelia's cold expression softened into something else as she moved to the bed, standing at the edge of the mattress.
"And why don't you deserve it?"
"Because I killed all those people. Your people. I don't know why you would want to have anything to do with me. I have blood on my hands."
"I have blood on my hands too. I killed many of your people Riven."
"It's not the same."
"Why is that?"
"We started it, you were only defending yourselves." Suddenly Riven felt Irelia behind her on the bed, her arms wrapping themselves around her waist. Riven began to struggle, not wanting to be touched, Irelia only tightened her grip, refusing to let the Noxian go.
"I don't know what you want me to say. Yes, Noxus started the war, but we finished it. People died on both sides, by my hand and by yours. You didn't ask for what happened to happen so I don't see you as guilty." Riven stopped her struggles, reluctantly letting Irelia hold her. "What would have happened had you refused your orders?" Riven didn't respond. "I assume they would have executed you. That doesn't leave you with much choice to refuse and do what is right."
Riven continued to look away, staring out the window as Irelia continued to talk. "As to why I want to help you, it's because I have feelings for you." Riven slowly turned her gaze to the woman behind her, surprised to hear it out loud, even though Riven already knew.
"I know." Riven mumbled, looking into Irelia's chest nut eyes.
"You know?" Irelia quirked her eyebrow.
"I heard you talking downstairs to some woman about your feelings." Irelia rolled her eyes slightly.
"Do you ever not snoop in on other people's business?"
"Your house is boring and it's not exactly easy to trust everyone when hiding somewhere completely foreign to me." Irelia pressed her lips to Riven's temple.
"You have nothing to worry about. I assume you heard the Elders who want to bring you to justice. They won't be able to do it, not when I have a say." Riven eased into Irelia's touch, sighing slightly.