The knocking on the door upstairs was like a death knoll, reminding the citizens of a grim reality. For Katarina and Shyvana, who opened their eyes groggily, it was the sign that their time together had come to an end.

"You need to get changed." Shyvana spoke first.

"…In just a second." Katarina said, clinging to Shyvana.

"If you keep them waiting for too long, they'll break the door down."

Sighing in resignation, Katarina forced herself away from Shyvana. As she hurried up the stairs, she spoke at the door in a voice loud enough for them to make out.

"Wait just a moment."

Dashing to grab her regular clothing and a cloak, she hastily put them on. When she had finally changed, Shyvana was waiting at the room's entranceway.

"…Will there ever be an opportunity for us to be together again?" Shyvana asked.

Katarina looked at the floor and answered, "Maybe, but it might be a long time before we see each other again."

"Right." Shyvana said, her voice almost inaudible.

It took Katarina a moment to realize Shyvana was holding herself back, with her trembling fists by her sides giving her away. Katarina walked up to Shyvana and kissed her on the cheek.

"…Goodbye, lover." Katarina said, walking away.

Shyvana stood there, listening to the click of the door being opened, the voices that identified themselves as Jarvan's confidants, and the eventual shutting of the door as they left. When a minute had passed and she was no longer concerned they were there, she slammed her fist into a nearby wall, making a hole in it.

"Lover? What the hell is with that, I've just been abusing you the entire time…" Shyvana chocked, holding back her tears.

"…If we meet again, I'll make sure… to do it right during that time. I want to know more about you, about what you like, what life was like for you… and I want you to know more about me and why I'm like this. Because… I was wrong. It wasn't sex I wanted, but… I… wanted…"

In her strained crying voice, she sputtered out the words, "Anyone… so that I'd be less alone… that's why it's not fair to you, and why… I'll try learning more about you next time. Because… it shouldn't be 'anyone', it should be…"

. . . . .

. . .

You. Only you.

"I trust everything's in order?" The man asked Karla.

"I'm not the one you should be asking." Karla stated.

"But you know what he's thinking."

"Fine, everything's in order. Sheesh, he's only a few feet away from us, ya know."

Karla looked towards the forming crowd, the league associate inside it to watch over the proceedings. He wanted to see his own plan succeed with his very own eyes, eager to fulfill his empty sense of accomplishment.

"I do not want to draw unnecessary attention to myself, as one with your abilities should know." The man scolded.

"One mind at a time. You should already know that's my limit." Karla argued.

"Fine then. I trust I don't need to remind you-"

"God, shut-up about failure already. That's all I hear running around your mind is, 'failure, failure'. Haven't you ever heard women like confidence in a man?" Karla complained, careful to keep her voice down so as to not draw attention to herself.

"Heh."

"It's not only your guy's asses on the line here, you know. I stand to lose my freedom regardless of whether you guys 'punish' me or not. I'm not about to let that happen without a fight, so you can be confident I did my job flawlessly."

"Good girl."

"That's not my type of fancy. I do prefer a 'yes ma'am' though."

The man chuckled as he left, calling Karla a slut in his head at her innuendo. Karla stuck out her tongue when his back was turned to her.

"Egotistical brute. I've 'seen' the things you do to your wife and I know you damn well show it to me on purpose. Too bad you can't cover up how small it is in those memories." Karla taunted under her breath, knowing full well he couldn't hear her.

"Karla, that's not very nice."

Karla turned around to see her superior, blushing shyly.

"Hey, don't go playing all innocent now. Aren't you older than me?" Karla asked rhetorically.

"Five years, yes", her superior nodded.

"And you have a wife and child."

"Yes"

"Gee, I wonder where that child came from?"

The superior sighed as Karla giggled to herself. He then gave Karla a stern look, which made her stop laughing. She knew that look, the one that doubted her. She's seen it plenty of times, since her allies could only rely on her word what others were thinking, being the only one who could hear thoughts.

"If… by chance something goes wrong today, who do you think would take the fall?" Her superior asked.

"…", Karla looked down as she remained silent.

"Karla, look at me when I'm talking to you."

"Don't wanna'."

"Dammit Karla, If you-"

"I've done many horrible things during my life. Helping in an assassination doesn't even compare to half of them, and yet you're doubting me?" Karla asked, her voice cold.

"This is different, Jared isn't here."

Karla's eyes went wide at the mention of Jared and barely stopped herself from slapping her superior right then and there.

"…Name." Karla said.

"Superior." He responded, going through a normal routine with Karla. All of Karla's associates had codenames which they would engrave into their very brain so she couldn't know their real names. A slight countermeasure in case she betrayed them.

"…From now on, your name is Jared."

"Wha-", Superior's eyes widened at the break in routine.

"There, now he's here. Someone important to me who I can't afford to let down. You have a family to go home to, right? Well I can't let your wife down since it's my job to make people happy." Karla said with a smile.

"…Sorry for doubting you, I just-"

"-Can't help but worry about what'll happen to your family should something go wrong. I've seen many people consider the worst case scenarios during times like these, making them act irrational. I've spent my entire life examining people's thoughts and actions, so there's no need to apologize. I understand you… no, I understand everyone better than they understand themselves… To the point where everything they do is boring, as though their actions were pre-determined." Karla trailed off topic, needlessly explaining how she felt.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't need to vent, I'm just wasting time. Speaking of which, it looks like it's about time for panic to erupt." Karla said, pointing to the crowd.

Following her finger, Superior (temporarily named Jared) could see Jarvan coming into sight with Katarina following. The crowd murmuring confused as they tried to reconfirm who was next to Jarvan, and the unrest following when they realized it was, without a doubt, Katarina. As if on cue, a guard came rushing from the side, sword at the ready to strike down Katarina.

"Forgive us for this." Superior spoke to Katarina, who couldn't hear her.

A sharp 'clang' echoed throughout the area as the guard's sword struck steel. Superior widened his eyes when he saw that Garen had appeared, as if out of nowhere, to block the assassin's blade.

"Kar-" Superior started, realizing she didn't do her job.

A swift jab of something sharp to the left of his neck cut his words short. Karla pulled the dart out of Superior's neck, his expression dumbfounded.

"Sleep, and forget your worries for a while." Karla whispered as she helped him lay down, the drugs taking effect quickly.

The crowd's panic and unrest were overcome by the confusion of what had just happened, staring quietly as they wondered what was transpiring before their eyes. Karla looked at Katarina, her expression surprised at the sudden attempt on her life. She then focused her attention on a certain individual who left the crowd; the league associate began making his way towards her in a less than friendly face.

"Oops, time to go." Karla said, running away from her pursuer.

She didn't get far, bumping straight into the brute she was talking to earlier.

"Going somewhere?" He said, reaching for her wrist.

"Come-on darling, let me play with your balls~" Karla said, repeating what the brute's wife said in one of his memories before ramming her foot between his legs.

He didn't have the time to curse as Karla pulled out another dart and stuck it on his neck while he was stunned. As she began to run away again, her foot got caught and she hit the ground face-first. She looked at her ankle, being held by the brute's hand who used the rest of his conscious strength to stop her. The league associate was almost upon her now, and she knew he had magic that would put her to sleep in an instant.

"Let go, you damn ape!" Karla said, kicking the face of the brute, whose grip didn't change.

The associate was now there, magic following into his hand. Karla knew that it would be over if he touched her with his hand, so she tried one last trick. She lay down flat on the ground, knowing he would aim for her head so that magic would work more effectively. He thankfully did so in a quick motion, his rage encouraging him to move hastily. She stealthily stuck a dart into the stone cracks of the floor behind her head (which was inches off the ground) and moved her body to the left as he lunged to put her to sleep. His hand landed straight on the dart, causing him to jump up in pain as she pushed him on his back, his balance now unsteady.

Not risking a break to take a breath, she loosened her leg from the now limp grip of the brute, and rushed out of the area without looking back.

"Go away. You're boring." The girl said.

"You don't know that." The boy said, gently reassuring her.

"I know everything. I know you like me, in the sense of a woman. I also know that you want to do unsavory things to me. I also know that you're going to kiss me right n- wait a-!"

The boy ignored her pleas and pursued his desire in an attempt to prove her wrong. Her face tightened first, angry and irritated, but as the kiss continued her expression mellowed out. When he finally parted from her face, her eyes shone with curiosity, something he had never seen from her face before.

"…Are… all kisses like that?" She asked.

"No, I think it's supposed to be better when we use our tongues…" He said.

"'Think', not know?"

He blushed, his inexperience beginning to surface in his expression and inner voice.

"…And yet you wanted to do these things with me, even when you've never experienced them before?" She spoke, in regards to his innermost thoughts.

He nodded, his earlier boldness nowhere to be seen.

"…Hey, let's try it." She said.

He looked at her with confusion.

"With tongues."

His face turned an even deeper shade of red, but he nodded as he brought his mouth closer. When they tried bringing their lips together with their tongues extended, both of them began floating in a sea of new sensations. The girl could see his thoughts, changing into something different, much more surreal… like a warm sun was shining inside his normally boring head. When they parted the second time, saliva trailing from their mouths, Karla had smiled for the first time in a long time.

"…Again."

The revelations Katarina and Jarvan brought to light were the undoing of many; conspirers were desperate to throw one another under the bus in an attempt to get away, ironically making even more arrests possible. When the dust settled, Demacia and Noxus were on an unspoken united front against the league (Not that either side would ever admit it, however).

The event shook up the countries so much that citizens of both began to wonder if the bad blood between each side was even real, or whether it was all orchestrated by the league all along. Such a notion was ridiculous, but they never believed they were being manipulated when the war at Kalamanda took place so the notion was understandable.

The league lost many allies in those days, scapegoating as many as possible so they could get away with as little damage as possible. Nowadays, there was no league matches taking place, so one could say it was the most peaceful time in a long time, despite the bitter feelings towards the league.

Despite how peaceful it might have been, it wasn't enough for Noxain's and Demacian's to visit each other, much to Shyvana's disappointment.

It had been 3 months since the announcement.

"Yu-hu, over here!" A cloaked figure gestured Shyvana to sit next to her at the bar while she took a gulp of her drink.

With cautious steps, Shyvana approached the seat and, when she was certain it wasn't a trap, sat down.

"Hey, you can ease up a little, you know." The cloaked figure said.

"Tell me why I shouldn't be dragging you to a Demacian cell right now." Shyvana spoke in a menacing tone.

"…Customer loyalty?"

Shyvana grabbed the cloaked figure by the collar and forced her to face her. Karla smirked underneath her hood, still unafraid of Shyvana like usual. One of the most common names that had been thrown around by the league when they were scapegoating was 'Karla'.

"Do you know how many people died during the Kalamanda incident?" Shyvana growled.

"Do you know that guard who tried to take Katarina's life?" Karla said, her smirk disappearing.

"What does he have to do with anything?"

"He was supposed to succeed in killing Katarina, as planned by the league. If I hadn't slipped false information to my former superiors, you would have never had a chance to be with her ever again."

"Lies."

"Alright then, let's put it this way; my name was thrown out there by the league. I'm not associated with them anymore which means I'm against them. Now why would I meet with someone from Demacia, hmm?"

Shyvana bit her lip in restraint as she let go of Karla's collar.

"You want revenge."

"Absolutely- Not, but I can see why you would think that. That being said, I do have something for you." As she said that, Karla took something out of her pocket, a note.

Shyvana grabbed the paper and read the contents, her mouth opening wide at the first lines of the note.

"This-!"

"Looks like you get to try again after all… Make sure you cherish every single… moment…" Karla said, her eyes losing focus.

Shyvana, unaware of the change in Karla's face, gave her a threatening look.

"I still can't let you go." Shyvana spoke in a warning tone.

"…Hah, I ain't… going… anywhere…"

Then, Karla's body went limp as it crashed to the ground. Shyvana, stared in shock for a second before turning Karla to face her. The patrons of the bar also looked, but they paid no heed and left almost simultaneously. Even the bartender left, leaving Shyvana alone with Karla.

"Bastards… 'Cough'… At least make it a slow poison… so I can enjoy my last drink…" Karla choked, blood emerging from her mouth.

Shyvana widened her eyes as she realized the entire bar had been filled with the league's associates, making sure Karla wouldn't leave alive. Before rushing out to capture them, Karla grabbed hold of Shyvana's arm.

"Leave the rats. They'd get out… the next day… anyways." Karla spoke, putting her energy into talking.

"You knew it was poisoned, so why!?" Shyvana yelled, frustrated.

"…I'm the loose end. Nothing more, nothing less, and… I got sick of running, but… I needed to give you… that note… so I kept on running until-"

Karla hacked violently, splashing blood across Shyvana's clothes and her own, her eyes drifting from side to side, as though she were a floating piece of driftwood at sea.

"…Hey, do you wanna know… why I ran that type of store?" Karla asked suddenly, her voice a soft tone that accepted death.

Knowing Karla's life was now limited, Shyvana closed her eyes in resignation and said, "Yes."

"…It's 'cause… their thoughts are never boring… during their ambitious love… irrational, unpredictable… the one thing I can't understand, yet know the most about… It even follows the same path… it all ends the same way… but…"

Karla's eyes became misty as a tear dripped down along her face.

"They become so beautiful on the inside, each and every one of them."

Shyvana's closed eyes waited for her to continue speaking, but when she opened them, she knew she could no longer hear any words spoken from the now eternally smiling storekeeper.