ACT 26
Ashe sat on an armchair and mindlessly stared at the fire in the lit fireplace at the living room, form hunched, elbows perched on her knees and fingers loosely tangled to each other. The bright orange flames reflected against her cerulean eyes, making a unique combination in its blue hues.
She has now found herself forever bound and controlled by her stepmother.
A few days ago, after she had brought Katarina back to the Du Couteau estate, she obediently went to visit her mother at the family mansion, only to be told that she was going to be arranged to marry a girl named Ahri Seducere. She had no say in it, at all.
And believe her, she tried fighting for her own decision.
Three days ago...
"Arranged to be married!?" Ashe blurted out as she shot off of her seat on the couch across her stepmother, a small glass coffee table serving as the only object between them.
"Yes," Sierra narrowed her eyes at her. "Is there... something you are not telling me, Ashe?"
Ashe felt like her heart rate had suddenly increased to a significant speed. She could feel it pounding inside of her like a wild and caged animal wanting to just burst out of her body.
Just like that...
It was just like that.
She was suddenly thrusted towards the position where she had to decide her future in just a few seconds. A decision that can effect, not only her, but a certain someone she has acquired in her life.
Now she has two choices. Either she stays under Sierra's control and do whatever she wants to, not only save herself, but to also save her father's marriage and the family business, or, she will be, for the first time, selfish, and put herself first before anything else.
The latter is what she chose.
"Actually," She pursed her lips in a flat line for a moment, feeling the nervousness set in. But, it was dispelled when Katarina's face appeared in her mind, green eyes looking to her cerulean ones. "I do have something to say."
Sierra leaned back onto the couch and crossed her arms, wordlessly telling, no, daring her to continue with her words.
And continue she did.
"You can control me, you can make me dress and act like a man, you can limit my freedom...-!"
"But?" Sierra asked 'casually'.
"I won't let you keep me away from Katarina."
Her stepmother stared at her for a brief and silent moment before standing up, walking around the coffee table and standing just a step or two away from her.
"Watch me."
SLAP!
Ashe crashed onto the coffee table, her right elbow being the first to make physical contact with the glass top. The clear glass cracked slightly under her elbow, and the surge of pain that abruptly flowed into her right arm proved that her elbow absorbed most of the painful impact.
"I knew my suspicions were correct." Sierra said, looking down on her fallen 'son'. "That little rebel is not just a mere friend, is she?"
Ashe clenched her teeth in pain, but managed to utter a hardened reply. "No, she's not."
"So, you've fallen in love with that girl, yet you did not think of even telling me until now?"
"I didn't think it was something you'd see any relevance in." She replied with a touch of sarcasm in her tone.
"And it seems to me that you have come to mimic her rude manners."
Sierra leaned down and grabbed the front of her shirt's collar. Gripping the cloth tightly, she was roughly yanked up a bit, her stepmother's face inches away from hers.
"Listen here, child. One word." Sierra raised one finger up. "One word is all I need for all the investors to pull away from Freljord Corporation."
"And what about the money?" Ashe questioned boldly. "Don't you live for the wealth, Sierra?"
...
...
Ashe was roughly shoved down the floor, and she instantly knew that her back would be quite sore later on due to the hard impact on the cold marble surface. Sierra stood straight and looked down on her with a glare she had always feared when she was a young child.
"I will absorb all the inheritance and such if that ever happens. I will make sure you and your father have nothing left when I finish."
Ashe looked down to the floor, her resolve suddenly crumbling to the dust. One minute she was so confident and brave in defying Sierra, the next? No, that was all gone in a flash. The defiance inside of her just vanished into thin air, not even leaving a single tiny piece of will to fight with what she wants.
Her fists clenched as she held back the tears that threatened to show and fall.
She knows that her father, who has only a few months left to live, currently requires a high maintenance in his health and body, which are quite costly. If Sierra does manage to do what she had just guaranteed a second ago, then that means her father will be stripped of the funds that's presently prolonging his time in the living world. Sierra may not know about the heart condition Alkove has, but if she were to know now, then that will only give her a much powerful upper hand.
From her knowledge, only her, Katarina, Braum and their family doctor knows about the heart condition, and she intends to keep it that way. Sierra just assumed that Ashe and her father are just afraid of being rid of their status and riches, but the truth hides beneath all that.
"Choose now, Ashe." Sierra smugly said. "Your wealth, or your useless little girlfriend?"
Ashe covered her eyes with a hand as she started crying into it, her tears seeping out through the thin gaps of her fingers. Her cracked sobs practically echoed throughout the whole wide living room, and she could feel the smug and triumph aura her stepmother emitted. Raising her gaze upward, she looked at her stepmother with clear drops still pouring from her eyes.
"Please... Don't make me choose..."
"Not so tough now, are you?" Sierra leaned down and held her chin with her fingers. "This is reality, Ashe. Make a decision."
Ashe weakly shook her head. "No, no, no... Please! Don't make choose!"
"You have to choose, darling." Sierra cooed. "Everything is in your hands. All you need to do... is decide."
She lowered her head and shook her head. She attempted to stand up, but Sierra forced her back down the floor with another hand. Ashe ended up kneeling on the floor painfully before she just sat on her legs without much of a choice.
"Your wealth, or your girl?" Sierra questioned again, putting emphasis on those two specific words.
Ashe, with hands perched on her knees, continued to shake her head, answering back in broken sobs. "No... Please... Please... I don't want to choose..."
"The clock is ticking, my dear. You need to make your decision. Now."
As tears blurred her line of vision, her memories with Katarina flashed in her mind, replacing the blur with a swirl of their moments together.
From a cold and loveless arrangement to a comforting and passionate relationship.
Her pale hands on her lap clenched like her teeth as she recalled her first kiss with Katarina at the wedding booth. After that, the most recent kiss they shared, the time when Katarina had completely opened herself to her, came and occupied her mind.
Ashe sobbed and cried loudly, shedding more tears in each passing second. The promises she had made, she knew she won't be able to keep them anymore.
"Katarina!" She called out desperately. "I love you! I always have and I'll always will! I'm sorry! I'm sorry I won't be able to keep my promises! I'm sorry!"
Ashe bent down until her forehead touched the cold floor, her clenched fists on either sides of her head.
"I will never forget about you..." She whispered quietly, but of course, it reached Sierra's ears. "I love you..."
"Oh, how cute." Sierra commented sarcastically. The older woman leaned down once again, grabbed a handful of Ashe's hair and pulled her up, forcing her to look up and into her stepmother's, once again, smirking face. "I assume you've made your decision."
"Please..." Ashe breathed out. "At least... At least let me say goodbye to her... After that, I won't ever fight you again... I-I promise...-!"
"You promise?" Sierra sardonically laughed. "Like I'd believe your promises."
"Please... I...-!"
"You can't even keep your promises to your worthless girlfriend."
"Just let me say goodbye..."
"No."
"Please..." Ashe pleaded, eyeing her cellphone, which is on the top of the now cracked coffee table. "Just... let me..."
Sierra followed her gaze, and the smirk on her face grew. Before Ashe could even lift her hand to get the gadget, the older woman snatched it from the table with her free hand and held it away from Ashe.
"If I say no, then it's a no, darling."
Ashe's tears didn't halt. In fact, it felt like more came and fell as she gazed at her step-parent pleadingly.
"If I have to grovel, I will..." Ashe whispered. "Just let me say goodbye to her... That's all I ask..."
Sierra's expression changed and it was obvious that she thought about Ashe's offer of literally begging to acquire her phone to say her farewell to Katarina, but it didn't take long before the smirk returned.
"No. And that, my dear, is my final answer."
Sierra had left her at the living room that night, taking her only way of contact to Katarina. She attempted to leave the family mansion to go to Katarina to personally say goodbye, but a new butler Sierra had hired was strictly ordered to not let her exit the house without permission from the woman herself. She tried pleading to the butler to let her out, but the man would have none of it.
A whole day passed with nothing happening but her heart breaking and being agonizingly torn into millions of pieces. The following day, Sierra nearly physically whipped her just to get her to move and fix herself up, since her fiancée was on the way to see and meet her for the first time.
When she first met Ahri, the other female was completely happy that she is going to get married to a handsome 'man'. She doesn't know how Sierra plans to still keep her secret with the honeymoon that will follow after the wedding, but she found herself not caring about the future anymore.
After all, it's not the future she had envisioned for herself and Katarina.
"Master Ashe," The new butler called from the archway of the living room. "Miss Ahri is here to see you."
"Let her in." She murmured, not taking her eyes off the burning wood in the fireplace.
"Certainly."
The first thing she heard was the clicking and clacking of heels echoing with each and every step. The owner of those said heels perched onto the armrest at her right before a pair of smooth arms wound around her from behind.
"How's my charming fiancée doing?"
She didn't want to reply, honestly. But, she spotted Sierra's reflection from a nearby mirror, showing the woman standing at the archway and watching their exchange with a scrutinizing look.
Ashe closed her eyes for a moment and straightened herself mentally, opening them when she was ready. As soon as her eyelids parted open, she spun around, pulled Ahri onto her lap and offered a perfectly convincing smile that could probably fool anyone in Runeterra.
"Terrific."
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Marcus sighed as he walked into the Du Couteau estate. He handed his hat and jacket to a maid that was waiting for him at the doorway. But, before the maid could leave with those two things, he took the invitation from inside one of the inside pockets of his jacket.
Walking into the living room, he sat down on one of the couches and looked at the wedding invitation in his hands. His eyes skimmed over the gold letters of Ashe and Ahri's full names before he rubbed his face with a hand, completely stressed out.
He had thought he would finally be able to see Katarina smile again, look happy and content with her life. Unfortunately, reality and destiny decided that isn't going to happen anytime soon. Running a hand through his hair, he can't seem to relax his tensed and stressed body. Not with all the worrying and thinking he has been recently doing.
"General,"
Looking towards the direction of the speaker and intruder of his solitude, he found a maid standing at the entryway of the living room.
"What is it?"
"There's someone on the phone for you."
"Who?"
"He went by the name General Lightshield."
Marcus sighed deeply, standing up and leaving the invitation on the coffee table at the center of the living room as he walked past it. He exited the living room and went down a hall where the telephone is, the maid walking alongside him.
"Has Katarina come out of her room yet?"
The maid shook her head. "Not yet, General. But, Miss Cassiopeia and Master Talon are attempting to convince her otherwise."
"Hmm."
He should have expected his daughter would be too devastated to think about anything else. In his thoughts, he decided to bring at least a fruit for Katarina to consume before she starves herself to the point of being forced to be put at a hospital to recuperate.
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Katarina stared at Ashe's jacket, which is currently in her hands. She's still at her bedroom and is presently standing directly in front of the room's door.
"Katarina, please," Came Cassiopeia's voice from the other side of the door. "You need to eat at least a nibble of something."
"What you're doing won't bring her here, Katarina." Talon stated through the door.
His words stung her greatly, but she knew that it's the truth. Ashe did tell her that she was nothing to her, even told her to leave her alone. Katarina also sent her own 'threat' to Ashe, telling the other that she hates her and to never show herself again.
But, in truth, Katarina still dearly loves Ashe, and she desperately craves to see her again.
She doesn't know what she'll refer to Ashe anymore. A friend? Her girlfriend? Her ex-girlfriend?
Katarina was leaning on nothing. Ashe isn't hers anymore.
Yet why is she still Ashe's?
Despite the lack of knowledge Ashe has about it, Katarina couldn't picture herself with anyone else in the future. Every time she would try to imagine her future, it always involved Ashe, which then reminded her that Ashe has replaced her already.
They may be officially broken up, but Katarina still couldn't retrieve her heart from Ashe's clutches. A heart that she didn't know she would ever have possessed and given to someone else. Until now, her heart remains in Ashe's cold yet soft hands, in pieces, but still, it remains there.
Just by that thought, Katarina gripped the jacket tightly before she suddenly swung the door open, pushing Cassiopeia and Talon back. The two stumbled for a moment but recovered immediately, quickly following and catching up to her as she made her way down the hall.
"Katarina,"
"Katarina, stop."
She ignored her siblings. It was a chilly night, and every time nightfall came and the breeze is chilling, either a maid or a butler would always make sure the fireplace at the living room is lit. As a resident there, she knows.
Knows what, you ask?
She knows that this is her opportunity.
Katarina climbed down the stairs, Ashe's jacket clutched tightly with one hand. Her two siblings kept trailing after her, not letting her leave them behind.
"Katarina, what are you going to do?" Cassiopeia questioned her as they entered the living room.
Her emerald green eyes focused on the calm flames residing at the fireplace, her nails digging into the fabric of the jean jacket she held. The calm fire contradicted with the blazing one she had felt inside of her, the fire that scorched her whenever she thought of that unnamed stranger kissing Ashe.
"Katarina!" Cassiopeia called out again. "What are you planning?"
Once she was a meter or two away from the fireplace, Katarina pulled her arm back slightly and aimed at the fireplace.
"To burn this piece of shit!"
Katarina threw the jacket...!
Talon lunged forward and passed her, grabbing the clothing before any part of it could touch the fire. He spun around and narrowed his eyes at her, while Cassiopeia practically yanked her elbow to spin her around and face her.
"What the fuck was that, Kata!?"
"You stay out of this, Cass! This has nothing to do with you!" She snarled at her sister before turning to her brother. "Now give me that little shit and let me burn it!"
"No, Katarina," Talon answered. "You will only regret it."
"Fuck regrets! Give it to me, now!"
"No."
"Damn it, Talon! Give it to me!"
"Sorry, Katarina, but I won't."
"Fucking he...-!"
Before she could finish, Cassiopeia grabbed her again and forced her to turn around. As soon as she did though...
Slap!
It wasn't a strong slap, Cassiopeia made sure of it, but it was enough to stop Katarina's outburst of negative emotions. Her head was facing the side to where Cassiopeia had made it turn to when she slapped her.
"Stop fooling yourself, Katarina." Cassiopeia told her in a serious tone. "Once you burn that so called 'piece of shit', you're just going to cry your eyeballs out afterwards. Especially when you realize that you just carelessly burned the last thing Ashe had left for you."
"Katarina," Talon's voice sounded closer, and she assumed he now stood behind her. "If you really want to burn this jacket..."
She felt her brother drape it over her shoulder steadily.
"Then go ahead."
"But don't you dare regret it." Cassiopeia harshly stated with a hard look.
As the warmth the jacket offered engulfed her upper body, she wrapped her arms around herself and fell down the floor, clinging to the dark blue fabric of the clothing.
"I can't..." She whispered as tears welled up in her eyes. "I just can't..."
Cassiopeia and Talon joined her on the floor, her sister placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Every time I close my eyes... I see her. Every time I sleep... I see her."
Her siblings remained silent, letting her vent and voice out her feelings and emotions freely and without restraints whatsoever. She needed this, to finally vocalize everything she felt. Years are more than enough to keep her feelings bottled up. Now, the bottle is full, and it needs to be emptied.
"She texted me... She told me that I was nothing to her. Broke up with me through text. It felt... awful. I answered back... Told her that I hate her. I even warned her not to show herself again. But..." Her arms loosened around herself and she looked down to the bracelet she's currently wearing. She stroked one of the small blue stones with a trembling finger. "I lied... All I want now is to see her. To tell her that I love her. Despite the fact that I was nothing to her."
Cassiopeia rubbed her back with a hand, trying to soothe her.
"Katarina..."
"If I were given the chance to beg for her to come back to me, to recreate our relationship, then... I will." Katarina whispered out. "Just to have her back in my arms, I will..."
She then weakly laughed, sarcasm in her said laugh. "To think a Du Couteau never grovels... Here I am, prepared to do just that."
A moment of silence passed and her brother and sister helped her up to her feet as soon as she tried to stand up by herself.
"Thank you." She murmured, lightly gripping the jacket wrapped around her with her hands.
"For slapping sense into you? Anytime." Cassiopeia tried lightening her mood with a small joke.
"We're family, Katarina." Talon stated. "Family comes first before anything else."
"Come on," Cassiopeia nodded her head to the direction of the kitchen. "Let's get you something to eat."
It was that close.
They had almost achieved a departure with no more dramas or bursts of feelings...
But, then, while they were maneuvering around the coffee table, Katarina's eyes, which was casted downward, spotted the elegantly designed invitation on top of it. She halted her steps as soon as her eyes spotted Ashe's name on it.
"What's this?" She asked in general as she eyed the flat object.
"What's what?" Cassiopeia asked, clueless to what Katarina currently stared at.
Reaching down, Katarina took the white invitation and read the words and letters printed on it. As her eyes read and passed every single syllable the words possessed after the two names mentioned above, the shards of her shattered heart pierced her hollow chest like sharp knives made to kill.
"Katarina?" Cassiopeia asked, not knowing what she's reading.
When she finished, the hand holding the invitation fell to the side and her eyes looked completely in a daze. Beside her, she felt Talon gently pry her fingers off the card before reading its contents itself.
'It is happening... It's actually happening...' She still stared blankly. 'She's... She's getting married.'
Talon finished reading and now looked at her with a sympathetic gleam in his eyes. "I'm sorry."
"What? What is it?" The still clueless Cassiopeia asked, now looking confused.
Talon held back a sigh. "Ashe is getting married."
Katarina sarcastically smiled as tears ran down her face and stained it once again.
"And we're fucking invited."
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Author's Note: This story will be at least 30 chapters in total, soooo! We're almost close to the end. ^_^
Fun fact about meh: I was once a major Kat×Garen shipper. That was, until, I found Wounded by NyokaKione. After I read that story and found some other Kat×Ashe stories and images, I became a proud and solid Kat×Ashe fan and never wanted to read another story of Kat×Garen fanfic! :P They're the first Yuri pairing I've shipped in my sixteen years of living, to be honest, and I'm not planning on stopping now.
Even my cellphone's wallpaper is Ashe using her mouth to share a pocky stick with a blushing Katarina. (They look really cute in the pic! Just sayin' xD)