POWDER V

Our goal is to tell efficiently systems with many non-trivial solutions or near solutions… "Boring…" For that, we pick a delta-shaped penalty function… "Boring." We choose this equation and show that the expectation can be approximated with relative error… "Wow. Super boring…" I was ready to blow my brains out as I spun around in my chair and tossed yet another notebook onto the stack of papers in front of me. I turned around and rolled over to Ekko's side of the workshop. "When you said we were going to do something fun tonight, I was picturing something else."

"Really? What were you picturing?" teased Ekko.

"You butt naked," I fired back. He looked up from his work and I gave him a smirk. "What? You asked."

He sighed and shook his head, "Alright, stop distracting me and help me figure this out. We can crack this if we just put our heads together." I leaned my forehead against his and he smiled, "I didn't mean it literally but that works too."

"I want my cuddles," I pouted. "I'm not working until I get it."

"Just bring your stuff over and we can do both at the same time."

"Ekko…you mad genius! Why didn't I think of that?" I grabbed the research papers and giddily jumped into his lap. I sat facing him with my arms wrapped around his neck while his hand hugged my waist and his chin rested comfortably on my shoulder. There was something about being in his arms that always had a way of calming me down. For the next few hours, we immersed ourselves in the work while sharing a pair of headphones. It was difficult at first but after gaining a basic understanding of the runes, the possibilities in my mind were endless and the inventor part of me couldn't wait to start playtesting.

Don't be too excited.

Remember?

What happened last time?

"You okay?" asked Ekko as he noticed my sudden mood swing and caressed my head. "You don't have to continue if this is bringing up bad memories."

"That's probably best; wouldn't want me jinxing it and blowing you up as well," I chuckled humorlessly to lighten the mood but he easily saw through my act. "Oof, tough crowd." I tucked my knee into my chest and leaned my back into him. Uneasiness filled my heart as the memory of that beautiful explosion flashed before my eyes again. The fact that it was pretty made what I saw after so much worse. I shuddered as I remembered what their bodies looked like and I couldn't bear the thought of Ekko joining them. Even just speaking it out loud already made it more real than I could deal with. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I take it back."

"You can't change the past, Powder," said Ekko as he draped his arms around me like a blanket, "but you can learn from it. You didn't know better that night but now you do." He picked up the gemstone, placed it in my hand, and wrapped his fingers around mine. "You wanted to help and now you can. With magic in our hands, we can change the world." I looked into the sapphire gem and within the swirling arcane, I saw a vision of what that world might look like. I turned to him, wondering if he saw the same one, and he smiled knowingly at me. "So, what do you say? Wanna help me crack this equation? You've always been better at math than me."

I tilted my head and gave him a quick peck on the lips before taking the notebook from his hand. "I've always been better at every subject than you."

"Ouch."

"The truth hurts, Little Man." We shared a laugh and began working in tandem to complete the project. While he built the stabilization equipment, I worked on solving the activation function. When either of us got stuck, we just spun our chair around and switched roles, tackling it from a different perspective. "Here we go!" I exclaimed as I finally got the answer and turned around to show him my work. "It's all about these runes. They form some kind of math-y, magic-y gateway. To the realm of heebie-jeebies," I explained as I grabbed the gemstone. "And this…turns it on."

"Your explanation could use some work but I get the gist of it," said Ekko with raised eyebrows. "So, what are we waiting for?"

"Alright…here goes…" I got up to my feet as my body jittered nervously. Doubt filled my mind as I held the gemstone above the stand. What if I calculated it wrong? You probably did. What if it explodes again? You jinx everything. What if – My thoughts were interrupted as Ekko held my hand. What if you're right? The dream of that better world flashed before my eyes again and that was the final push I needed. I placed the gemstone onto the machine and bit down on my lower lip. The device began to spin and the resonance built up into a swirling storm of mana that threatened to lift us off our feet.

I squeezed down on Ekko's hand and held my breath as I waited for something to go wrong, but it never did. A pulse of arcane energy shot out of the gemstone like a geyser and suddenly, our workshop was turned into a nebula of dancing runes. "Holy shit...you did it!" cheered Ekko. A rush of euphoria filled my body as I watched the runic ciphers float through the air. The shockwave had awoken the firelights and the little firebugs joined the dance as well, filling the night sky with a swirl of beautiful colors. Both of us couldn't stop smiling and we spun around the room, trying to follow their path until we got too dizzy to continue. "You're amazing."

"Are you falling for me?"

"Yes," he said as he leaned over and kissed me. "You make me fall for you every day."

I stuck out my tongue in mock disgust, "So cheesy."

"As if you don't like it," he said as he bopped me on the nose.

"You're right," I said as I held out my arms for him, "please declare more of your undying love for me."

"Hey, where are my words of affirmation?"

"I thought quality time was your love…sign? Whatever that book said."

"Language."

"Sure."

"Doesn't mean I don't like compliments."

"Fine," I said as I flipped over onto my stomach and stared at him.

'You have beautiful eyes.'

Vain.

'You make me happy.'

Boring.

'You're great in bed!'

Kinda sus.

'You come up with something then!'

"You're hurting my feelings by taking so long."

"Shush, let me think." After deliberating with the voices in my head, I arrived at the perfect answer. "I…fall for you every day."

"I just said that."

"And now I'm saying it again, that's how good it was." Ekko gave me a look that indicated he wasn't impressed and I let out a huff of frustration. "It was either that or you're as addicting as drugs and I wasn't sure what kind of message that was sending."

"You have a real way with words, Powder."

"You're sappy enough for the both of us," I said as I got back up. "Alright, let's stop talking and get to the actual fun part: building a bo–"

"We're not building a bomb." I opened my mouth for my next suggestion but he already had his answer ready. "Or a rocket. Or a gun. Or any kind of weapon."

"Why not?!"

"Because we're not going to get to keep it if Piltover sees us making weapons."

"We could be ending world hunger for all they care."

"No, Heimer will support us once he sees the good we can do with these gemstones. I know he will."

He spoke with such confidence that I looked at him curiously. "Heimer? You're talking as if you and that little furball were friends."

"Huh?" He appeared confused for a moment before shaking his head. "Oh…right."

"Have you been cheating on me with a 300-year-old yordle? Is that who you've been visiting on your 'nighttime patrols?'"

"You're hilarious," he said in a deadbeat tone as he looked down on his watch. "But speaking of patrol, I do need to get going."

"Want me to tag along?"

"I actually need you to take the next watch. With everything that's happened, we need one of us at the frontlines at all times."

"Alright," I nodded as I gave him a tight hug. "Stay safe."

"There you go. Words of affirmation." He gathered up his gear and picked up his mask before stopping at the door. His eyes turned to me and there was a strange look of worry within them. "Don't build a rocket, okay?"

"I will try my best not to." A smile replaced the worry on his face and he walked out of the room. "Bring me something from Jericho's on your way back."

"Will do."

The room fell back into silence and I continued to work on the Hextech project solo. The more I studied the runes, the more I realized that there was a method to this madness. With the right combination, I could teleport an object across the room with pinpoint accuracy. But with consistency came rigidity. As Sky's sweetheart, Viktor, described it in his notes, they were 'bound by a singular function.' I knew the coordinates to the Last Drop but what were the coordinates to the Last Drop from six years ago? I could set a reminder for myself in the future but how do I leave a warning for myself from the past?

"Listen to Vi, Powder. Just stay put. Everything will be fine if you do nothing."

Some mistakes can't be taken back.

"I know," I whispered to myself as I closed the notebook and lied down on my arms.

A knock on the door caught my attention and Ava's voice pierced through it. "Are you two doing the nasty?"

I rolled my eyes, "No, Ekko went on patrol."

As soon as I said that the door to the workshop flew open and Ava marched in. "Whole place is gushing about the blue floating stuff. They want to know if you're some kind of witch now."

"Nope," I shook my head. "I'm still missing the pointy hat."

"Hehe I knew you would say that," said Ava with a grin on her face as she pulled out one of those ridiculous tall hats the enforcers wore. "Wanna carve one up?"

"I'm supposed to be doing responsible things right now."

"You looked like you were napping just now." I tried to explain that I had just failed an experiment but she cut me off before I could. "Don't even try to lie, I caught you!" I laughed as she pointed her finger at me in an accusatory fashion and I had no more defense.

"Fine, you win," I said as I switched off the machine, "but just one hat."

"Okay," she agreed as she counted her fingers. "One hat for you. One hat for me. One hat for Ekko…"

"Little brat," I ruffled her hair as she laughed merrily.

After thoroughly vandalizing the pristine tall hats, the two of us took a stroll around the treehouse and found our way to the painted mural. There was a time when I couldn't even look at the art piece and would avoid this area like it was haunted by ghosts. But over time, I understood why Ekko had it made. No graves were dug for the people on this wall and they deserved to be remembered. From then on, I made time to visit them every day. I would sit before the wall and their voices would come. Sometimes they would say nice things and other times they would remind me of my worst mistake, but I would always listen to the end.

"Doesn't it hurt being here?" asked Ava.

"It does," I answered as I reached out my arm at the painting, "but running away won't help either so might as well face them head-on." I looked at each of their smiling faces before adding, "Plus, they look much less intimidating here than they do in my head."

There was a moment of silence before she looked over at my arm, "I never asked what the clouds meant."

"Wherever you are, light it up and I'll find you."

I smiled as I looked at the portrait of my sister, "They're not clouds."

"Mir ve zee lat, Wengo! (Good to see you again, Wengo!)"

My ears perked up at the sound of a familiar voice and when I looked over to the entrance, there was a commotion gathering near the gate. "Ekko must be back from his patrol."

"That was quick," noted Ava. I nodded and the two of us made our way to the group to see what all the fuss was about. There was a general air of excitement so it didn't seem like anyone was hurt which alleviated some of my anxiety. I squeezed my way through the crowd to get to the front where Ekko was standing beside his patrol group and…Jericho?

"I said bring me something from Jericho's on your way back, not bring back Jericho," I said before pausing to think for a bit. "Although I suppose this works too. Hey big guy!" There was a big smile on Ekko's face and a sparkle in his eyes that made it clear something good had happened. "You gonna tell me why you're smiling like a maniac right now?"

"I brought someone back for you."

"I can see that."

"I'm not talking about Jericho."

"What do you me–"

"Powder?"

I froze as I heard her voice.

Pink hair and blue eyes.

'No, don't fall for it!' I told myself. 'This was just my fucked up head trying to trick me again.' But the voices were quiet and as I stared at the pink-haired stranger, trying to find the tell that would break this illusion, a part inside me began to hope again. So many nights I have dreamed of seeing her again only for her to disappear when I woke up. So many times I have seen someone on the street I thought was her only to be left disappointed. Even though I had been wrong so many times before, my heart still wanted to try just one more time. Please. "Vi?" Please be real.

"Oh, Powder!" Upon hearing my voice, she immediately ran up and engulfed me in the warmest hug I had ever felt. Tears that I didn't even know were there rolled down the side of my cheeks and I fiercely wrapped my arms around her torso as if she would vanish if I didn't hold on tight enough. "I'm so sorry, Powder. I'm so sorry." Her whispered voice broke with tears and sobs racked her body.

My heart ached and my throat tightened as I heard the guilt in her voice. "Why are you the one apologizing? It was all my fault. If only I had just listened to you – Vander, Claggor, Mylo – none of them would have –"

"Stop it." She cupped my face in her hand and I looked up into her eyes. "You did nothing wrong. Do you hear me, Pow-Pow? Nothing. What I said to you that night – God, I was such a piece of shit sister. But now that we're together again, I'm going to be better. I promise. I'm never going to abandon you like that ever again." For so many years I had bottled up the emotions of that day, waiting for the moment to hear her say those words. That she had forgiven me. That she still loved me. She wrapped me up in another hug and the flood of feelings burst out. For the first time in a long time, I cried freely into the arms of my big sister.

After the emotions died down a bit, I finally noticed the other woman that has been awkwardly standing beside us the whole time. Everyone else had given us our space, but apparently, all the crying and hugging wasn't a big enough social cue for her. I wasn't usually one to judge others based on social interactions but this was egregious even for me. "Excuse me…we're having a moment here."

"I-I know," she said, looking as if she wanted to hide under a rock. "I'm not trying to get in the way of things. It's just, your sister and I, we're…handcuffed together." She held up their bonds in embarrassment and that's when I realized that I recognized her too.

"Top Hat!"

"Top Hat?"

My eyes shifted between the two of them before furrowing my brows. "What's going on here?"

"She has a –" Vi began before Caitlyn cut her off.

"Don't you dare say it."

"Apparently, the two of them got stuck together when Vi escaped from Stillwater," said Ekko.

"You escaped from Stillwater?!"

"Not by myself," she said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Looks like we have a lot of catching up to do," said Ekko as he led the group toward the treehouse. "Let's head inside."

"Before that, can we please get these cuffs off?" begged Caitlyn.

"Aww and here I thought you were beginning to like me," teased Vi.

Everyone laughed and for a moment, everything was perfect.

7hanatos: I'm a sucker for happy endings, read into that what you will ;)

Warlocktoungue: A chapter ends where a chapter's gotta end; at least this week wasn't a cliffhanger XD I'm still mulling over what I should do with Sevika, whether to sideline her for Act III since I don't plan to write a rematch between her and Vi or have her play a more active role. I think betraying Vander is one thing but watching what they did to him might change her mind regarding her allegiances.

PandoNee-chan: There was an encounter between Jinx and Warwick back in Chapter 7. It was written in a dream-like sequence but that actually did happen. I guess compared to the show I'm a little ahead in having them reunite but I didn't see a need to prolong the inevitable especially when that's what so many people want to see. Hope this chapter gave you your EkkoxJinx fix :P