VI V

*A/N: The start of the chapter is a bit spicy

Soft and sweet, just like her. That was the first and only thought that went through my head when she pressed her lips against mine. I have been hit with all kinds of weapons before but none had dazed me as much as that kiss did. If someone had asked me what my name was at that moment, I wasn't sure I would have been able to answer. Then, she pulled away, and under the moonlight, she looked like a fucking angel and all I knew was that I needed more of what she just gave me. A small noise escaped her mouth as I captured her lips again and I couldn't think anymore. I just wanted to hear her make that sound again and again for the rest of the night.

Her fingers gently traced my tattoos up my arms, igniting every nerve along its path, but it ended all too quickly when she stopped at my tank top. I let out a frustrated whine which elicited a giggle from her. "One sec." I peeled the shirt off as quickly as I could and her hands were right back to where they left off. I wanted her lips to come back too but they instead went straight for my neck. At first, it tickled as she peppered me with featherlight kisses but then she latched onto the sensitive skin and I couldn't help but curse as she sucked just hard enough to break the capillaries underneath. "Holy shit, cupcake…" A bruise had never felt so good.

I desperately wanted to explore her body too but my hands were not gentle like hers and I was worried that my calluses would feel like sandpaper on her soft skin. Noticing my hesitation, she whispered lovingly into my ear, "You can touch me too, I don't bite." I was about to call her out for just having left a love bite on my neck when she gave a light nibble on my earlobe that left me breathless. If I didn't know any better, I would have believed that she was a seasoned temptress from Ava's shop. She was playing me like a piano and my body danced to her every tune.

My hands instinctively went to her hips and I teased the edge of her camisole to see if she wanted me to stop or go further. A small nod gave me the green light to lift it a bit more and I ran the back of my hand up her beautifully toned stomach. Her breath hitched in her diaphragm and it felt good knowing I wasn't the only one losing my shit. I pushed the shirt the rest of the way up and she eased it over her head. Her long locks swayed hypnotically and without holding back this time, I reached up and tucked it neatly behind her ear. She sighed contently as she closed her eyes and leaned into my hand.

I knew I shouldn't have been staring so much but while she wasn't looking, I drank in her form. Her body was so perfectly sculpted that it made me wonder why she was so fascinated with mine. She had soft curves in all the right places while I was made up of hard edges that were stitched together with muscle fibers. My body was a weapon that looked ready to cut anyone that got too close while hers was a fluffy pillow that any guy or girl would be lucky to hold. "Wow…you're hot."

"Very eloquent," she laughed before planting a kiss on my 'VI' tattoo. "You're very beautiful too."

We fell back into bed and for the first time in a long time, my dreams were sweet.

"Vi…" The sound of someone's voice cut through my consciousness as I felt a small shake on my body. "Vi, it's time to get up." The sound of birds chirping outside registered in my brain next and the brightness behind my closed eyelid clued me in that it was morning but that didn't mean I had to acknowledge it.

"Five more minutes," I said as I held onto the pillow next to me.

"No, not five more minutes, we need to get up or else we're going to miss breakfast with your sister." My pillow tried to escape but I had my arms draped all over her and our legs were still tangled together from last night's 'activities.' "Geez, you're like a sloth." I smiled lazily and when I opened my eyes, I was greeted with the wonderful sight of Caitlyn lying next to me. "Finally, now, will you please let go of me so that I can put on some clothes?"

"But I like you so much better with them off."

That earned me a small flick to the forehead and a playful smile. "Get your head out of the gutter and get dressed."

"Is that an order, officer?"

"And you say I'm the one with the kink," she said with a shake of her head before slipping out of the bed.

"So…" I started hesitantly as I leaned over the bed and picked up my tank top, "was this a one-time thing or…"

The mattress sank as she sat back down beside me and with a smile, she ran her fingers through my short hair. "I like you. As stubborn and irritable as you sometimes are, I really like you. I know we might have skipped a few steps but I'm okay with it and I would like to give us a fair shot. What do you think?"

"Yeah," I said as I rested my head on her lap, "I would like that."

The sweet smell of freshly-made pancakes greeted us as we walked into the dining hall. Other Firelight members were taking their breakfast as well and they pointed us to the kitchens as we came in. Inside, Ekko was frying up a new batch while Powder decorated them with blueberries inside the skillet. "Alright, prepare yourself to have your tastebuds be blown away!" said Powder dramatically as she platted them with melted butter and syrup.

"Why are you talking as if you made them?" asked Ekko.

"Uh, excuse me, where would your blueberry pancakes be without the blueberries in them? That's right, nowhere." She tossed one at him which he caught in his mouth and I had to agree with Caitlyn that they were kinda cute together. After my talk with Powder, I had felt a little left behind when she told me about all the new people in her life and how that had changed her. It made me feel like I wasn't really needed anymore which, ironically, was how I made her feel when we were kids. It was a tough thing to accept but it also made me realize that I had to build my life back up as well.

"Hey Powder, I wanted to talk to you about something," I said as I took my seat beside her.

"Shoot."

"Cait and I were, uh, talking last night and – I know we don't have the best history with enforcers but I was thinking, maybe –"

"You're rambling, sis."

"Right." I took a deep breath. "Cait and I like each other and we want to see where this goes."

She stared at me for a second before tilting her head, "Are you going to tell me the sky is blue next?"

"You already knew? Was it that obvious?"

"You have a bloody hickey on your neck, Vi. So unless you were fighting vampires last night…"

"Don't finish that sentence." She giggled at that and I let out a sigh of relief. "What do you think of her?"

"Hmm, hard to say, I barely know her," she replied honestly as she twirled her braid around her arm.

"Will you give it a shot? For me." She gave me a silent nod and I wrapped her in a side-hug. Breakfast went on smoothly with us reminiscing about old times and Caitlyn sharing some childhood stories of her own. One coincidence we discovered was that workshop we robbed all those years ago actually belonged to her family and she was even there the day it happened. It was strange to think about how connected we already were before we even spoke our first words to each other on that dock in Stillwater. Without all those pieces falling exactly the way they did, we wouldn't be here right now.

"Don't say it," warned Powder as she looked to Ekko.

"I'm just saying…maybe it was meant to happen."

"Ugh." My sister and I both cringed a little which in turn made both our partners laugh.

"Don't listen to them, Ekko, they think it too but are just too shy to admit it," said Caitlyn.

"Hopeless romantics."

After we devoured the giant stack of pancakes, I turned to Ekko and asked, "You guys need help with anything around here? I feel bad eating your food without contributing."

"Patrol would be hard without any hoverboard experience," said Ekko as he thought out loud. "Would you mind running some training? Word has gotten around that you beat Sevika and people want to know how you did it."

"Sure I could do that."

"What about me?" asked Caitlyn. "I would like to help too."

"You should be focusing on healing your leg," said Ekko.

"It's a lot better now," she argued. "I don't want to be the rich Piltover girl that sits around doing nothing."

"Vi says she's a pretty good shot. She could perch up in that eagle's nest in the old clocktower and keep an eye out for the boys on patrol," Powder suggested. "Wouldn't need her legs for that." Ekko still didn't look convinced so Powder gave one more push. "Don't worry, I know how important she is, I'll make sure our princess doesn't get hurt."

"Fine but be back before sundown," said Ekko, "and if you see the wolf, don't chase it."

"Yes, sir!" said Powder as she gave him a military salute before muttering to herself. "The wolf never shows up when I'm there anyway."

"Promise me you'll be careful," I said.

"I already said I would take care of your girlfriend, didn't I?"

"I'm worried about you too, Pow-Pow."

She looked down bashfully and gave me a quick hug before ushering Caitlyn away. "Alright, Top Hat, it's me and you today!"

"My name is Caitlyn…Seriously, what is with your family and nicknames?"

"Are you sure they'll be okay?" I asked worriedly.

"Powder acts like that but she's an absolute menace in a fight. I wouldn't have said yes if I didn't believe she could handle herself."

There was a hint of pride in his voice and I turned to him with a smirk. "So, you and Powder, huh? I always knew you had a thing for her. Vander used to tell me to keep an eye on the two of you and let you know what would happen if you got out of line."

"You gonna give me the long-overdue big sister talk now?"

"Nah, I don't deserve to do that when you're the one that's been here for her this whole time. I should thank you; I can't imagine she would have forgiven me so easily if she had to go through it alone."

"Don't beat yourself up for something that was outside your control. We all make mistakes. You're here now and that's all that matters."

"You're a good man," I said as I patted him on the shoulder. There was a moment of silence before I wrapped my arm around his shoulder and continued, "But let me just show you real quick what would happen if you hurt her."

"Here we go."

…

"No headgear?"

"What is this? Kindergarten?"

"Suit yourself," said Ekko as he used his mouth to wrap the Velcro around his wrist. "I will warn you though, I've gotten a lot better."

"Good," I said as we touched gloves, "you certainly couldn't have gotten any worse."

I came at him first with a few jabs that he easily dodged before countering with some of his own. Compared to the little kid that used to trip over his own feet, he has certainly come a long way but his technique was still far from perfect. A slight change in my rhythm made him guess wrong and earned him a right hook on the cheek. "Put your guard up, Little Man," I taunted as I danced around him, "or I'll ring your head like a bell."

He shook the hit off and squared up again. But this time, instead of trying to out-box me, he faked the straight and swept my feet out from under me. I was thrown off-balance and before I could recover, he hit me with a quick one-two combo that forced me to back up. "Oh, so now we're cheating."

"Who said we were boxing?"

"You still punch like a little boy."

"And you still block with your face."

"Okay, Little Man." My tone changed and that instantly wiped the grin off his face. "Grit your teeth." I fired a bullet straight at his face and he brought up his arms just in time to block it but that blocked his view for what came next. A left uppercut had him dazed and my right overhand was there to finish him off. He spat out his mouthguard as he rolled over onto his back and groaned in pain.

"You could have held back a little," he complained as I helped him up.

"I did."

"Alright, consider the message received."

"Good," I said before quickly adding, "but don't tell Powder I did this though. I don't want her to be angry with me."

"What am I supposed to say about the new bruises on my face?"

"You, uh, fell down some steps. Shit, just make something up."

"I won't tell her if you tell the others I lasted twelve rounds against you."

"Deal." We shook on it and for a second, it felt like we were back to being kids. I had a lot of missing time but moments like these made me feel like I was making up some of it.

Sm0keyPanda: I have embraced the fact that I'm a sappy romance writer who farms 'awww's from my readers!

Voraces Lector: Then the real question is, how much of what he saw can he actually change? 0.0 Thanks for checking in as always, I really appreciate it!

Warlocktoungue: I originally had a scene where Powder suggests the three of them (Ekko, her, Vi) to sleep together which ended up being cut since there are really specific things I want to do with the last two chapters of Arc II which meant the Cait/Vi kiss either had to be pushed up or pushed wayyy back and if the decision is left to me… Well, the start of this chapter is what happens .

Xduskreaver: Appreciate the review and am glad you are liking the story so far. Romance pacing was never my strong suit since most of my fanfictions are written to push the ship of a couple that I really like. So it's tough for me to be patient when I have the power to just say 'they kiss' XD

Makavelius Flavius: Thanks a lot for taking the time to write such a thought-out review. Your points are all valid and I'll look to see if I can incorporate them in the right places in Arc III. At the end of the day, I mainly wrote this fanfic as a feel-good story for Cait/Vi and Ekko/Jinx shippers. I like writing sweet moments between them and if I have to cut out some negative feelings that may realistically be there that's something that I've accepted. In a perfect world, I would be able to integrate both these elements seamlessly but I'm not there yet as a writer XD I'm glad there are some aspects of Jinx's character you still enjoyed and hopefully the elements I did try to execute on felt true to the quality of the original work.