(Cross-posted from AO3)
Hi and welcome! This is my first published work since 2013, so feel free to let me know if there's anything amiss with the tags/etc. Also I'd like to point out that English isn't my first language - I hope you'll find my writing entertaining none the less. :)
This fanfiction was loosely inspired by gorgeous artwork of Vi and Powder created by Margherita Tomasello on her Instagram account. Feel free to look it up!
The last sun rays spilled over the pier, drawing figures on Violet's hunched back. Her gaze was set on the waters, gleaming and glistening before them. Powder sat behind her in silence, her fingers absent-mindedly twirling one of her braids. They should've returned home already to avoid the dark soon to come, but Vi had convinced her sister it would be alright to stay a little longer. After all, summer was quickly approaching its end and after that, there would be no more days like these. Days of sneaking across the borders to bask in the heat, if just for a short while.
In The Underground it didn't matter much which season was current – the fumes reached far and wide and grew so thick you could barely see any light at all if it wasn't for torches and lamps on every corner. But it was safe there, at least more so than out in the open under many a watchful eye, which is why Vi was always extra careful as to when and how to take her sister on one of their adventures. With just the two of them it was doable but with the four of them they might've attracted too much attention, so Vi never invited the boys along. Besides, as nice of a place as it was, this was more of a sisterly matter. For years now Vi had tried to find ways to teach Powder about their parents. What they were like, what they used to do as a family and how important she had been to them. More often than not, these conversations ended with tears streaming down Powder's face. And so often Vi would keep her thoughts to herself.
Today though, she felt compelled to speak. "Remember how mother used to take us here?" Vi asked, cutting off the silence. "I guess you wouldn't since you were barely old enough to walk", she teased, playfully grabbing one of her sister's braids, making Powder giggle. Vi's lively expression quickly turned into one of nostalgia, one that never failed to bring a wave of sadness over Powder. There were times when she couldn't help but wonder what it was like for her older sister to remember their parents so vividly. Walking and talking and going about their lives, not with their limbs scattered across the pavement in pools of blood.
Powder lowered her head, feeling an all too familiar stinging sensation building up in her eyes. Vi was quick to react, wrapping her arms around her baby sister. "I'm sorry" she began, "I don't want our visits here to be sad. It's just that you're the only one I can talk to about this stuff, you know?" Powder nodded her head, her glare still fixed on the ground. "She used to carry you in a sling when we'd come here, back when it was still somewhat okay. And we'd sit down right there" Vi said, pointing at the very edge of the pier. "You'd have your hands in her hair and I'd sit down close by, watching you two. And we'd only ever come here during the summer, just like you and I do now".
Powder wrapped her hands around her knees, looking fixedly into the distance. Saying nothing, she let out a sigh and brought her eyes back down again. Vi was about to stand up when she felt Powder tug at her hand. "I don't remember them so well anymore", she murmured into her knees. "I wish I did but it's hard, it's all a bit fuzzy in my head." Vi gave her sister a sympathetic smile and pulled herself up on her feet. "It's okay, Pow-Pow. You were so young, I get it. I just want you to have something more than the bridge. Something good, something that keeps you going. A happy place". Vi gestured around them vaguely, at the pier and the sea, the last rays of a sinking summer night sun. Powder followed her movements with a pensive look on her face, as if she was trying to piece together a puzzle. "What if you're my happy place?"
Vi chuckled, her tone warm. She reached down to fluff Powder's hair, sending blue strands flying about. "If I'm your happy place," she began, "then you're mine, kiddo. Without a doubt."
Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this short piece. Feel free to leave comments/suggestions/constructive criticism if you so wish. This was kind of an exercise for me to see how I write these days and how the process goes - I'm planning on writing more about Arcane soon, I've got a lot of ideas so stay tuned. :)