Only You

Vi didn't know how much longer she could keep doing this.

Pit-fighting was one thing, but after fighting an invasion for hours, she was more exhausted than her longest back-to-back rage cage matches.

She promised Caitlyn they'd see each other again. The longer the battle went on, Vi couldn't help but wonder how the battle must've been going on elsewhere.

Still, she pushed thoughts of exhaustion aside. They wouldn't help her now.

But they were still nipping at the back of her heels.

"Vi!" Jinx yelled.

Before Vi could dodge, Warwick closed his claws around her throat. She struggled against him, feeling as useful as a kitten.

There was a flash of light… then all thought left her mind.

Her limbs went slack.

Her vision tunneled.

When she opened her eyes again, she didn't understand where she was. All around her was a dark expanse with pinpricks of light.

Stars.

Above and below her, colors she had never seen before painted the starry expanse.

She was alone. But she wasn't alone.

Voices came out of the darkness, multiplying quickly.

Forms made of light moved around her, pushing and shoving like people. She couldn't see their features, but she knew they were other people like her. The crowd was restless. Some stumbled about in shock. Others were angry and terrified. Most were panicked and calling out names.

Vi didn't recognize them. Or maybe she did. She couldn't remember. Why couldn't she remember?

Someone fell into her and Vi was pushed into someone else. She fought to stand, yet the effort felt tenfold as she pushed back against a dozen more people, squeezing around her. Vi could barely breathe as she was pushed and shoved amongst the sea of people. Hopelessness gripped her heart as she realized she was just one speck in a crowd of thousands. Their voices overpowered hers.

She closed her eyes and tried to summon her memories, despite being twisted to and fro as though pulled along a current. Her memories flooded around her, but one by one she felt her memories pulled away.

No!

Then she understood that trap of this place. The oppressiveness she felt from the crowd, fighting to survive. She didn't want to disappear. She didn't want to lose herself.

But the more memories she tried to hold on to, the easier it was for the other memories to be plucked away from her. She carried as many as she could imagine in the arms of her mind, but her arms couldn't carry all of them.

Then memories of other people leaked into her own. Vi didn't like it. She was starting to get confused.

A daughter laying a flower on a grave. A man arguing with another man. A fiery feeling of whiskey burning down her throat. A boy showing off for his friends. Clothes. Smells. Light reflecting off water.

Vi clutched her head, not sure what else to do.

Then she saw something familiar. It was clear. It was a memory that was hers.

Wind in her hair. An airship rattling overhead.

Vi pushed forward and began to chase it.

That day… the explosion in that building…

Her field of vision went white. Vi pushed through the crowd of thousands, angling her shoulders, forcing her way through.

When she emerged, she looked down at her hands and saw they were different. Her left hand was wearing her leather fingerless glove and white bandages wrapped her right. Her outfit was a burgundy hoodie vest and a creamy yellow shirt. Her hair was short and pulled back.

She was sixteen again.

The crowd of people disappeared. It was silent once more.

And she stood in front of a doorway. Time was stopped. Smoke hung in the air, but didn't move. Blue sparks flickered in the air, like snow suspended in time. The doorway was blown open, the wood splintered apart. Behind it, a tall boy was thrust against the wall behind him.

Vi had never gotten a good look at him before. His face was younger, less worn with worry lines, and the dark edge to his eyes was gone.

Jayce?

Vi stepped through the doorway, getting a better look at him. Then Vi glanced down the hallway to her right. She held her breath.

A girl stood there. She was frozen in time, dropping a crate from her arms, full of gadgets and tools. She wore a white blouse and suspenders holding up a dark skirt. Her hair was much longer, but still the same shade of blue.

Cait.

Standing in front of her, Vi stared with wide eyes.

You were there that day?

Hesitantly, she reached out to touch Caitlyn's hand and memories flashed in her eyes.

Greyson. Caitlyn's mother. Marcus. Caitlyn finding out Greyson was dead. Caitlyn putting together her first map of Piltover, red strings across it, determined that no matter how long it took, she would find Greyson's killer too.

Vi stumbled back, deeply hurt.

Oh, Cait…

Vi wrapped her in a tight hug.

I'm so sorry. All of this… I hurt you too…

And all the memories Vi had about that day flooded through her mind. All her mistakes. All her wrong choices. Everything that happened years later, as consequence in the future because of her.

I wish I was never born.

Arms suddenly closed around Vi. She gasped as other memories suddenly flooded in. Memories of when she was older.

She saw herself from inside her prison cell. She saw the sun in the sky as she looked out over the Undercity from the bathysphere port. She felt the weight of carrying a dying person she wanted to live. She felt scared and elated and terrible yearning.

Look at me. Hear me now. I forgive you.

After feeling like a lifetime of terminally floating in a dark, stormy sea, Vi knew you had to grab the good whenever it came along before it disappears like fish in the night. It didn't matter where the life-raft came from, only that it would sustain her long enough.

There was nothing fair. There was no justice. There was only love, and hate, and forgiveness.

I don't regret meeting you, Caitlyn reassured her.

Vi gasped, then the tears streamed down her face. She closed her arms around Caitlyn tighter. She felt Caitlyn's tears also wet her shoulder.

She saw the moment Caitlyn butted her in the stomach. The ache of regret on both their parts.

I failed you, Vi said.

No, Caitlyn shook her head. I failed you. I broke my promise. You make me better, Vi. You opened my world. You open my eyes. Even if I so desperately wanted to stay narrow focused.

Caitlyn brushed her hand behind Vi's head. Vi suddenly wrapped her arms around Caitlyn's neck.

I am so glad I got to meet you, Vi said in her ear.

And somehow those words hit Caitlyn even deeper.

They held each other for an eternity. Then the walls started to glitch. The ends of the hallway started to break away, pieces breaking off into a world of white.

As they took in what was happening then looked at each other, Vi saw half of Caitlyn's face begin to glitch. Between quick flashes, her expression never changed, her eyes still locked on hers, but her face changed.

Vi saw Caitlyn at different ages, all within milliseconds, interspersed with her teenage face. From her commanding officer to the young junior trick shooting champion. From the girl Vi hugged on the bridge, to a Noxian trainee, to the woman who became her lover. But it was one of the last faces that caught Vi's breath anew.

Her hair was longer, held back in her signature ponytail. It was the face Vi saw last before they went their separate ways before the battle. Her teeth were bloody, her lip cut. New lines of blood fell down her cheek, her eye swollen shut.

Vi cupped her cheek just as the blood disappeared and her teenage face returned.

Vi couldn't be sure what Caitlyn had seen, but she could tell it must've been the same journey on her face, scars and all.

Their eyes gazed at each other sadly. Judging from the state of each other, they knew they must've lost the battle.

They hugged tightly. If these were to be their final moments, then they wanted to hold onto what mattered most.

"Don't stop fighting, Violet," Caitlyn whispered in her ear.

"I won't," Vi promised.

And everything enveloped into white.

In all timelines, in all possibilities, only you could show me this…