Ekko stood in the workshop with his new, upgraded hoverboard in his hand, examining it.

"The speed feels a lot better, but… did you really have to make the underside… so…"

"Vivid? Lifelike? Beautiful?"

"… pink?"

"Hey, if it was up to me, I would have changed the entire design. You guys like your green and white too much I'd say, but I respect your creativity enough not to overhaul it." She took off her safety glasses and looked at him with a disappointed face. "And it's just yours that's like that, idiot."

"Oh." Dammit. "Uh, thanks, then."

They've been working hard for the last week, making the most out of what little time they had in preparation for the upcoming battle.

"I think we're gonna be good with supplies. Scar is gonna hand out all the grenades you made tomorrow morning. Sevika's scouts say Ambessa is almost ready to move out. Whatever that scientist… Viktor, is doing to her soldiers, it's almost done."

"Not much left to do but wait until she strikes, then?" she asked, sitting down on her workbench, dejected. "Rhino here is going to be so lonely without any Noxians to say hi to." Her new heavy machine gun rested in the corner of the workshop.

"There's one more thing on my mind. You said that we're gonna need a grand entrance to impress all those people, convince them to join us? Well, I think I have a crazy idea."

"Shoot."

"You remember your hideout? That giant extractor fan?"

"Yeah?"

"You wanna try… making it fly?" he smiled.

Her previous disappointment evaporated instantly, as her face lit up like she had just received the best birthday present of her life.

"Come on, come on… start… spinning…" Jinx begged for the seventh time that evening. They scraped together the parts to make a giant balloon and Ekko even found a sunk Bilgerat ship's wheel, installing it on the main platform to be able to control their horizontal movement. After long hours of tinkering the only missing part was a big enough power source to start it all up.

"Come on, come on, come on…" they both chanted, as if the Arcane could hear them and grant their wish. It may have helped in the end, as they soon heard the deep squeaking sound metal makes when it is forced out of the rust surrounding it.

"Oh, oh, oh!"

"It's working, Powder, it's working!" The blades started spinning for what might have been the first time in decades. Unfortunately, they also forgot to separate the power source from the balloon itself, and as hot air began to fill it, they soon started moving upwards.

"Uh oh…"

"Wait, wait, shut it down quickly before we just fly away!"

Jinx adapted quickly to the changing conditions, killing the flames and stopping their ascension. As they already climbed twenty feet towards the sky though, that turned into an abrupt fall.

"Grab something!" Ekko said, holding on to the handrails with both hands. For Jinx, that something was Ekko himself. They crashed back into the bottom of the fissure a second later, but their newest transportation tool remained intact.

For a few seconds, they stood there in silence. As they realized that nothing serious had happened, they both burst out in laughter holding each other, unable to stop until tears of joy slid down their faces.

"Well, it flies nicely, but landing's gonna be an issue."

"Better than how it ended with the wheelie".

Their laughs soon subsided and they were left in a tight hug, locking their eyes, as they both found themselves unwilling to pull back from the other.

"So… tomorrow is the big day, huh?" she asked.

"Yeah…" He averted his gaze from her. "I'm sorry I called you Powder just now. It felt like old times, you know."

"I don't care what you call me, Ekko."

He was fairly certain he could prove her wrong very quickly, but decided against it, as she felt the touch of her right hand on his cheek, forcing his gaze back onto her.

"I changed my mind. I want to know." He could feel her breathing as she spoke. "In the alternate timeline… were we sweet on each other?"

"Yeah, we were."

"Sounds like you had everything there. And yet you came back."

"I did."

She moved her thumb along his lips.

"Did we get… physical?"

"Yeah. We kissed."

"Nothing… more?"

"Nothing more."

Her eyes flashed. Only a few inches separated them from each other as she pulled him even closer.

"Why?"

All reason left him. He said the only thing that came to his mind.

"Because it wasn't you."

And she pulled him in for a kiss.

"Ease into it, he said." She collapsed on top of Ekko. "If that is your definition of easing into something, then—"

"I am… not sorry." He put his arms around Jinx, still panting heavily.

"You'd better not be, Big Man."

"So… I've been wondering if you're still ticklish under your—"

"No. Don't you dare." Her tone made him recoil at first, but the smile that came alongside it told him about her true feelings on the matter.

"Game on."

Laughter filled the fissure for the first time in weeks. As they ran out of energy, exhausted from all the hard work they did all day long, they stayed in their embrace enjoying each other's warmth, their thoughts averted from the dangers of the coming day. As their eyes closed, Jinx asked the same question Ekko did in the alternate timeline.

"Do you ever wish, that you could just stay in one moment?"

He didn't see the sadness in her eyes.

The next morning Ekko woke up to the touch of something on his body. He opened his eyes to see Jinx laying down on her stomach with a bored look next to him, spraying pink paint on his abs.

"What… are you doing exactly?"

"I don't know. Marking my territory. You didn't like it on your stupid hoverboard, so I thought you might like it more on yourself," she smiled mischievously.

"Is this your revenge for yesterday's game?"

"Of course not. I just thought you could be even more handsome with the right colors."

"Careful now, you don't wanna end up in a battle here."

"Huh, and I thought that's what was going to happen?"

"Alright, you asked for it." He stood up and pulled out a spray can from his jacket for himself.

"Think I'll just let you win, Lover Boy?" She followed suit, holding a can in both of her hands with a wide smile on her face, ready to compete.

"Make sure to put up a good fight."

"Well damn. You look good," Jinx said thirty minutes later, as she finished spraying her name on Ekko's right arm.

"Your stamina… is out of this world," Ekko admitted his defeat, lying down on his back. He sported a considerable amount of pink X marks from head to toes.

"That's Shimmer for you. But you put up a good fight, Lover Boy, I'm proud of you," she teased. She was also tagged by green paint all over her body.

Ekko reached for one the fresher marks on his chest that was still wet, and soaked his index finger in pink paint. He held it out towards Jinx's face and ran his finger alongside it under her eyes. Just like old times.

They both turned serious at the thought of the upcoming fight.

"You have to promise me that you won't die," Jinx said. "No matter what. And especially not to save me. I… I couldn't bear that happening again. I swear on Janna's name, if you continue the cycle, then I… I will…" finish the job, she thought, but she couldn't say it out loud. He was once again there to calm her down, enveloping her into an embrace that felt like the most soothing touch she ever received from someone else.

"Alright. No hero antics."

"Yeah, that sounds real believable coming from you."

"Really, I promise. But only if you promise me the same." He pulled back and held out his pinkie towards her, making her laugh. "Once all this is over, I want to take you… somewhere. That plan fails if either one of us kicks the bucket."

"Alright. No hero antics."

She locked her pinkie with his, and they sealed their pact with a kiss.

"So where will you be taking me?" she asked as she pulled away, eyeing him with a curious expression.

"Uh… that's a secret."

"Alright then, I'll be looking forward to it."

She stood up and picked up another two spray cans, noticing the fear that flashed across Ekko's eyes.

"Come on, Lover Boy, we look good enough already. It's time to decorate this balloon. What good is a new invention if it doesn't have style?"

"Yeah, you're right." He looked relieved. "Let's make this thing look good!"