(Disclaimer: Been a while. Sorry about that.)

ViLeonce

Chapter 9: Adjusting Nicely

Vi roared with a powerful surge forward as her fist collided with her enemy. The give in her opponents chest when she crushed it was sickening and beautiful at the same time. Vi's grin was so wide it hurt her face. The assassin in the hood that she hit flew backwards and crumpled into a heap. The assassin's lane partner, a woman with a floating set of blades, lunged forward in an attempt to stab Vi in the midsection.

But just then a glorious blade of sunlight shot forward and stopped the bladed maiden in her tracks. Time seemed to stand still in that moment where Vi was completely safe and the onslaught of the Sun was soon to arrive. The expression of the bladed maiden quickly sank as Leona was pulled to her and smashed her face flat with her shield. Vi shuffled backwards and then repositioned as the assassin and bladed maiden's bodies merely disappeared. This was the real way of battle for Vi. No one died here.

It had been a few weeks since Vi had left Piltover to join the League of Legends. The transition was hard at first. When she arrived, Vi cried for hours in her dorm alone. Leona tried to comfort her, but Vi had never hurt so bad in her life. She felt like she abandoned the people of Piltover, and she was still feeling guilty about the woman in the street she failed to protect. Somehow, though, the Institute of War was a good fit for Vi and she began making friends in no time.

Her induction into the League was a smooth one. Her fighting prowess was tempered by years of experience without safety protocols like those in the League. She was more confident than usual when she was told she couldn't die during the combat tests. Leona spent most of the time watching with her face buried in her hands and shaking her head in exasperation. When Vi was a fully fledged member of the League of Legends however, she felt better than she had ever felt before.

Leona was still the saving grace that Vi thought of everyday. They spent most of their free time together when they weren't training or fighting in matches. Even when Vi had to be alone her thoughts often trailed to her Sun Goddess. Leona often had errands to run around the country; sometimes as an ambassador and sometimes by invitation. Vi wasn't nearly as important and so she stayed at the Institute while Leona was away.

Vi felt comforted after a while in her new home. She wondered how the police force was doing in Piltover. She thought about the heists they were investigating and if anything became of them. She finally shook the thought out and continued on her daily training. One morning, Leona knocked on Vi's door and woke her up.

"Yeah... yeah I'm up. Hold on," she hollered groggily. She rubbed her eyes and swung her legs out of bed. She scratched her scalp, tousling her pink hair. She was dressed in a tank top and shorts, which was enough to answer the door if it was Leona.

Thankfully it was, for the bright smiling face of the Sun greeted Vi as she opened the door.

"Morning sleepyhead," Leona remarked, extra cheery, "Seems like today is the first day in ages we've both had the day off. We should do something."

"Right... Let me get some pants on and some food in my gut first, then we'll talk," Vi replied with an obviously fake snide attitude.

Leona huffed, "Well, maybe I should just walk down the hall and find a new girlfriend."

There was that word again. They had thrown it around a few times lately, and Vi was getting used to hearing it. It was weird still, but a good weird.

"Cute. Like you," Vi smiled and pursed her lips to make herself look like a dummy. Leona giggled and punched her shoulder.

"I'm serious, after breakfast maybe we can go off grounds and go hiking?" Leona suggested.

Vi was sitting on the edge of her bed pulling on a pair of pants when Leona suggested the hiking and she audibly groaned.

"Hiking? Really? We are going on our first real date since I left Piltover and you want to spend it outside in the fresh air with exercise? Are you insane?"

Leona crossed her arms and put on a pouty face, "Maybe."

"Figures. Look, we'll see, okay? Hiking might not be so bad but we'll shoot some ideas around while we eat," Vi said as she finished pulling a fresh shirt over her tank top.

"Fair enough, lead on ye hungry beast," Leona retreated into the hallway and leveled her arms like a herald.

Vi chuckled and left too, and the two of them made there way towards the dining hall. This was about the first place Vi found on her own; the dining hall and the training room. No one could really fault Vi for her simplicity. Food and fighting and having a good time are the stables she lived by. She had it simpler than most. Leona often said how jealous she was of that quality.

"The key is not taking anything too seriously and just enjoying the good stuff," Vi instructed like a school teacher, "You can roll your sleeves up when you need to, but just taking it easy makes everything a lot more enjoyable."

"But you are so undisciplined. Don't you worry about losing focus in battle?" Leona asked as they walked.

"Focus? Leo baby, have you seen me fight? I swing my big metal hands around until I am the last one standing, I don't need much focusing," Vi said flexing her arms.

Leona giggled, "Right, I forgot, you fight like a falling stack of boulders. No wonder you can't beat me."

Leona flashed Vi a cheeky smirk to which Vi cracked her knuckles to.

"Alright tough-chick, how about after breakfast we go a round?" she challenged with a cheerful sneer.

"You're on," Leona said confidently.

When Vi and Leona got to their breakfast they ate alone and in peace. They spoke to each other, mostly small talk, for the entire meal. Leona pointed out some of the other League champions and told Vi who they were. Most of them had been there for a long time before Vi ever arrived. She watched them all closely and spotted a few enemies of Piltover, like Zaunites and Noxians. Vi visibly shook with anger as she sat there, to which Leona grew concerned.

"What's wrong babe?" she asked with a hand on her arm.

"It's odd here. The neutrality is hard for me... I'm so used to trying to bust some of these people. Or their cronies. Not many of these guys ever wandered into Piltover alone, they are all pretty tough customers. I don't know, I'm just uncomfortable," she remarked.

Leona rubbed Vi's arm comfortingly, "Wanna go fight?"

Vi just grinned dumbly, "For sure. Let's blow this yordlesicle stand."

They managed to get to the practice arena in relative silence. Their small talk was pretty expended and they just caught dreamy glances at each other from time to time. Sometimes when Leona looked at her, Vi would make a gagging face like she was disgusted. Leona would see it and smile but say 'quit it' and sock Vi in the shoulder.

"Ow, you know you hit kinda hard you friggin' ape," Vi said rubbing her shoulder.

"Oh quit your whining you big baby. Gear up and let's get this over with so we can go outside," Leona said going over to the weapons platform.

"You'd think you were solar powered or something," Vi said stepping onto another weapons platform.

Leona just cocked an eyebrow at Vi, to which she chuckled and said, "Oh yeah, nevermind."

The weapons platforms glowed as they created the gear that the champions used as a sort of magical copy. The League's magic makes these copies so that the champions don't have to replace their artifacts if they "die" in a match. The crystals in the arena copy their bodies and recreate them if they die. It was an efficient system.

Vi's fists powered on as Leona hefted her shield and walked towards the practice nexus. They both touched the crystal and waited for the hum and light to tell them they were ready to go. When it did, they both walked away from each other and then squared off.

"Ready?" Vi asked cheekily.

Leona answered by using her spectral sword pull ability. It just barely missed Vi as she sidestepped it. Leona regrouped and then began a slow walk forwards. Her shoulders were rolled forward and her shield lifted to just below her eyes. Her sword was off to the side and her gait was defensive but very intimidating.

Vi answered with a charge of her own. Her fist bounced harmlessly off the shield but they had done this many times before. Leona had to buckle her right knee to absorb the blow so Vi rolled her body off the shield in the direction to knock her off balance. Leona recovered though, knowing the counter move and swinging up at Vi's midsection with her sword.

Vi caught the sword in her metal grip and wrenched the sword to the side. She then mixed up her usual attack pattern and stepped forward behind Leona's shield and headbutted her right in the forehead. Leona sauntered back and shook her head. With a yell, she came at her again.

With a grin, Vi used the shockload in her gauntlets to propel herself backwards as Leona charged her. She then stepped forward after Leona hit nothing but air and tried for a mean uppercut but Leona's massive shield blocked it. The clang made Vi's teeth rattle, and Leona followed up with a unique trick of her own. She did something she never did before; she kicked Vi in the thigh with her heel with her gaiters. Vi was caught off guard and she recoiled in pain as she had not been hit there before.

What happened next was kind of embarrassing on Vi's part. Leona stepped forward and smashed Vi's face flat with her shield before swinging her sword at Vi's ribs. The sword connected but didn't cut very deep. She clutched her side with one gauntleted hand but took another sword swing to the shoulder, which knocked her off her feet. She laid on the ground in pain for a second before Leona walked over and stomped on her neck, snapping it. Instantly the pain faded as she was magically recreated back on the summoner platform, healthy as can be.

Vi was still panting, however, when Leona came over to check on her. Leona was similarly out of breath and she sat down on the ground next to Vi, who was also sitting. The both of them held a brief moment of silence before one of them spoke.

"You didn't win you know," Vi smirked, but still panting.

Leona twisted her face in a playful anger, "What are you talking about? I wrecked you. You should be lucky it wasn't real."

"You didn't wreck me, I let you win," she retorted with the same cheekiness as before.

Leona laughed heartily and laid her head on Vi's shoulder. They sat like that as their breathing calmed. Leona looked up into Vi's smiling face and kissed her. She closed her eyes and returned the kiss gently. When the kiss broke Leona looked away, then looked back at Vi and grinned.

"Want to go back to the dorms?" she asked innocently.

Vi's stomach twisted into knots.

"Sure," she said almost too quiet to hear.

She wasn't sure where things were going to go, but she didn't care. Leona made Vi feel so happy and safe, despite just getting her neck broken by her mere minutes ago. She knew it was fake; for training. In the real world, a fight like that would have ended much bloodier, and Vi may have lost it anyway. Here, at least, she knew that Leona would protect her from harm, even if that meant serving in the League away from home.

Vi always felt brave, but in recent weeks she felt an uneasy reliance on Leona. It was like she would suffocate without her. At the same time though, Vi was terrified of her feelings. That gnawing emotion in the pit of her stomach that told her that two women shouldn't be together... but they should... but they can't... but they will. Her mind was a mess of feelings, but in the end, most of them were positive ones. The love of her life stood up and prepared to walk to the dorms. Vi stood up and followed her, to whatever lay beyond.