It's been two weeks since they arrived at the Firelights' hideout. Jinx stood outside, looking at the mural, lost in her own thoughts.
You would have liked this place, Isha. It's sorta quiet. Just like you.
"Hi." A small boy, barely reaching above her knees surprised her.
"Hey."
"I'm Felix."
"I'm… Jinx."
"They say you are a scary lady. Are you a scary lady?"
Guess some still don't like the stray cat that wandered into their home.
Jinx crouched, making eye contact with the boy.
"What do you think, kid?"
"I see you look at the paintings a lot. Scary ladies don't look at nice paintings that much."
"The world is a bit more complicated than that, kiddo. And I'm not a lady."
Felix seemed to ignore everything Jinx has just said.
"That's my big brother over there, Thomas. He was killed by Silco's goons two years ago." She looked over at the figure the child was pointing at. He seemed to be about the same age as she was. Thankfully, she didn't recognize him.
"I used to work for Silco too, you know. I could have been the one who killed him."
"No way, you aren't scary like those guys. You seem like a cool lady."
"One more time, kiddo, I am not a lady."
"Sorry, lady."
"Ugh." She resigned herself to her fate. I guess this is how Ekko feels, huh?
Jinx sat down and pulled up her legs to her face, leaning onto her knees. Felix followed her suit shortly after, sitting down beside her. Kids.
"I'm sorry for your brother."
"It's okay. I miss him a lot, but he's in a good place now. He's in the Spirit World and he protects me from all the evil ghosts there! We'll meet again when I go there, too."
"Best live a long life before that, Felix."
He nodded.
"Do you also have someone on the mural, Jinx?" Ah, so you just wanted me to stop calling you kiddo. Could have just said so, you know.
"No. Not… yet. There is someone… who I could paint there."
"Who is it?"
"She is…" — Who exactly was she to me? — "She is… my little sister."
"What's her name?"
"Isha."
"What does she look like?"
"She has… round face… yellowish eyes. She has pigtails, because she wanted to look like me. I had… longer hair back then. She practically forced me to dye it blue like mine. She is… the cutest kid you ever saw."
"Do you want to paint her now?" Felix asked without hesitation.
"I… don't have any paint with me." She tried getting out the easy way, but Felix was having none of it.
"Don't worry, I'll just ask Uncle Ekko for some! Wait here!" And he was off. Uncle? Huh! Big Man has it rough with all the nicknames around here, no wonder he's sensitive.
Felix soon came back balancing a big bucket of spray cans that must have weighed more than he himself did.
"Whoa, careful with that. Don't wanna drop it and be painted yourself, you know."
"It's okay," he said, putting it down next to Jinx, panting heavily. "There's a few more, I'll bring them too, just wait!"
Kids.
She sighed, standing up and going after him.
Together they brought out all the equipment necessary, and Jinx set up the ladder and the supports to climb to the place where she wanted to paint her. As she reached the top, she stopped. What right do I even have, to—
"Come on, Jinx, paint! I wanna see how she looks like!" she heard Felix from down below.
She gazed down to see that a small crowd of Firelights have gathered next to Felix at the bottom, watching her quietly. They gave her a nod, as if giving her permission — and so for the next hour, she painted.
Her adorable face.
Her curious eyes.
Her blue, curly hair.
Her cheerful smile.
Her missing tooth.
Her ragged clothes.
Her stupid little hat.
Her finger-gun.
"You were right, Jinx. She is really cute," Felix said as Jinx climbed down, dropping the last can from her hands, looking at the finished painting.
"Right? She would have loved it here." Tears started welling up in her eyes. "She could have had… a good childhood here. Staying out of trouble, living… normally. Enjoying the good meals… and the friends she could have made. She could have played with you all. She could have… she could have been…" Happy. And she buried her face in her trembling hands as she started crying. Soon she felt something tugging her right leg, and she looked through her fingers to see Felix hugging it.
"I knew you weren't a scary lady."
And one by one, the Firelights came to her, offering her their condolences. The children embraced her following Felix's example, the others held her hands or placed their own on her shoulders, careful not to intrude on her, but letting her know of their support. That she was truly welcome here. One of them seemed to be recovering from a serious case of black eye. To all of them, Jinx could only say one thing:
"I'm sorry."
As her tears dried up and the crowd dissolved, Ekko stood alongside her.
"I told you. The Firelights are there for anyone who wants a place to belong to. No matter when." He gently pulled her into a hug. "I don't think I've said it before, so I'll say it now. I'm sorry for Isha."
"Thank you. For bringing me here."
"It's your home now, too."
As they separated, Sevika's words crossed Jinx's mind. This place and all the hope it brought to the people living in it, coming to an end. A single leaf fell into her hands from above. She noticed the slippery substance of the Anomaly Ekko told her about enveloping it, and she came to her decision.
"Ekko?"
"Yeah?"
She thought about what her sister would say in this situation. She was always the best at punchlines… alongside regular punches.
"This Anomaly thing? And the Noxians? I think it's time to kick their asses."