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Over the years, Jinx and I have met many times. Both in anger and grief for what could’ve been. As the leader of the firelights, there is a persona I have to keep up. We have fought each other endlessly since she ended up with Silco but somehow we can never bring ourselves to truly end it. However, in the rare moments where it’s just the two of us, there is an understanding. She what she needed to survive. I did too. Sometimes she hides out in the pipes that lead to our firelights base. Of course she knows where I am, we stumbled into this place as kids. I guess I’m sentimental that way.
I can always tell when she’s in the pipes. She always gives some sort of sign to let me know she’s there if I want to see her. Honestly, I always do, but I’ll never tell anyone that. Definitely not her.
So as I walk up to my room at the top of the tree, there’s something about how the door isn’t quite closed that makes me a little bit suspicious about where my blue haired frenemy has decided to stay tonight. I closed the front door fully behind me and move to each window, shutting the blinds. She would never show her face here, she’s killed too many of my people to do that. Some part of me feels guilty for still wanting her around after that, but my need for something that could’ve been overrides the rest of me.
I turn around and see her step out from behind the shelf on the opposite end of the room. She lacks her usual confidence, then upon further inspection, I see just how terrible she looks. Well, worse than usual. The bags under her bloodshot eyes have deepened and her hair is falling out of her braids. Her arms are crossed over her midriff and it looks as though she’s holding herself together. The expression on her face is one of pure desperation. Panic shoots through me as I walk towards her, looking for injuries, anything that might’ve caused her to look so awful.
“Jinx, what happened, are you okay?”
In hindsight, that was a stupid question. Clearly she’s not.
“I’m fine, Ekko,” she says as she looks up at me, “I need you to help someone.”
That gets my attention. I look back up at her and see tears starting to form in her eyes as her body starts shaking. It’s the most painful thing I’ve ever had to witness. Her eyes silently beg me to listen, to help her.
“Where are they?”
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We make it up to the pipe she always hides out in and I see a little bundle of cloth hidden just out of the light. Jinx walks over to it quickly and quietly, kneeling down beside it and gently moving the cloth so she can see the figure inside. As I get closer I can see the face of a young child. She has freckles and a few strands of blue hair cover her forehead, peaking out from the cloth covering her. Jinx gently brushes her hand over her forehead and the girls eyes open, a small smile forming when she sees Jinx.
Jinx starts speaking softly, “Hey kid, I’ve found you some help yeah? This is my…friend. Ekko.”
She hesitates a little, not sure what to call me, but settles on friend. I can work with that. The little girl looks over at me, her bright eyes cautious as she studies me. Jinx gently lifts her up and the girl lets her head fall against her chest, still drowsy from sleep.
“Where do you want me to take her?” Jinx asks as she looks up from the girl in her arms.
“We‘ll take her back to my room.” I reply, processing the sight in front of me.
Jinx immediately starts walking back the way we came and I’m almost certain the only thing keeping her up is the pure determination to get this kid help.
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Back in my room Jinx lays the girl on the couch and unwraps her. That’s when I can see all the cuts on her body. From the looks of it, she’s been hit by shrapnel from an explosion. There’s a bandage around her stomach, blood seeping through on the left side from what I’m assuming was a particularly deep cut. I’m frozen from shock, this poor kid. I look back up at Jinx and she sees the look on my face.
“Please,” her voice is barely above a whisper, “help her.”
I shake myself out of my state of shock and move to get the first aid bag I keep under my bed. I kneel back beside the couch and take out a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a cotton pad. I know this won’t be nice for her so I decide to at least learn her name before continuing so I can let her know what’s happening.
“Ok. Hey kid, what’s your name?”
I’m met with silence as she looks towards Jinx for help.
Jinx answers for her, “Her name’s Isha. She doesn’t really speak.”
I nod, “Nice to meet you Isha. Now, this is gonna hurt a bit, but it’ll clean out the cuts so they don’t get infected okay? I’ll try and be quick.”
As I explain this, Jinx comes and sits beside Isha who reaches a hand out to her. Jinx holds it in hers and smiles at Isha, scrunching her nose. Isha giggles a little at that and then lets go of her hand, looking back at me and nodding to tell me she’s ready. It takes me a second to break from my dumbfounded stupor and start cleaning the cuts but I get there. It’s just so weird seeing Jinx, who I thought had long ago lost every bit of the Powder I once knew, smiling and being so gentle with someone. She runs her hand through Isha’s hair as I clean the cuts, silently comforting her until it’s over and I just can’t seem to really get used to seeing Jinx this way. So I try to focus on the task at hand.
“Alright Isha, you did amazing. Now I’m gonna take a look at what’s under this bandage ok?”
She nods again and tries to sit up so I can unwrap the bandage but groans and lies back down. It hurts too much.
“Careful kid, I can’t have you making it worse.” Says Jinx as she carefully lifts Isha up into a sitting position and sits behind her.
Isha gives her a little smile and then leans back against her. I shuffle onto my knees so I can unwrap the bandage with Jinx’s help and lay it on the ground beside me, inspecting the wound beneath it. It’s pretty deep but relatively clean. It’s clear that Jinx did what she could for this wound and then tried to find help soon after. I immediately put some numbing cream around the wound and get up to boil a pot of water to sterilise the needle I’m using. Jinx watches me and I can see the moment she realises Isha needs stitches.
Once everything is sterilised and ready I kneel back down in front of the couch and look up at the both of them. Resting one hand on Jinx’s leg and the other on Isha’s shoulder, I take a deep breath. Jinx looks down at me silently thanks me for caring about not just Isha, but her as well.
I look the little girl in the eyes, I won’t lie to her, “Alright Isha. This is the last thing I need to do before I bandage you up and you can sleep. But it’s going to hurt.”
She turns to look up at Jinx who nods back at her and gently squeezes her shoulder. A silent encouragement. Isha looks back at me, pressing her lips into a line with a small sound of determination. I grab the needle and get ready to stitch up the wound. Jinx takes both of Isha’s hands in hers and squeezes them gently, to which Isha replies with a squeeze of her own. Then Jinx nods at me, and I begin to stitch Isha up.
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“That kid is amazing,” I say, looking at her sleeping form on the bed.
Jinx leans against the bench next to me, “I could’ve told you that.”
I look over to Jinx, she watches Isha with a fond smile while she holds herself arms across herself. That’s how she gives herself away. She’s exhausted I can tell, but there’s more than that. She turns to me and sees me watching her, catches the concerned look on my face and sighs.
“I’m fine Ek-“
“No, you’re not,” I cut her off, “you look even more sick and exhausted than usual.”
She stares back at me, “She’s more important. I just need a quick nap and I’ll be fine.”
“Jinx.”
“Ekko,” she bites back at me, “will you please stop with the boy saviour complex? Please. I can’t accept any more of your kindness. I don’t deserve it.”
I hate this. I hate that every body else thinks the same. I hate that she has every reason to think that she’s right. Because in my eyes, she’s worth everything. If I can help her, even a little, it’s worth the anger of every firelight, enforcer and Piltie. Gently, without thinking much, I turn and bring her into a hug. She tenses up as I bring her towards me, but after a moment, she relaxes and wraps her arms around me. Burying her head in my chest as I rest my chin on top of it.
“Maybe you don’t. But you’re worth it to me,” I say softly into her hair, “if anyone deserves kindness, it’s you. Even if it’s only your childhood friend and a precious little girl that will give it to you.”
She laughs a little at that and I can feel the tears seeping through my tank top as she squeezes me a little tighter. After a while we let each other go and she looks up at me, teary eyed.
“Thank you Ekko. Not just for this. For…everything else.”
I smile down at her, not saying anything. She knows. She knows I know what she’s talking about. Just then, there’s a knock at the door and we both turn, tensing up. I look at Jinx and she nods, moving to her original hiding place behind the shelf after gently covering Isha up with the blanket. Who on earth is knocking at this time of night? I shuffle towards the door and open it just enough to peak through and see who it is.
“Scar? Man it’s late what’s up?”
He looks concerned so I open up the door a little bit more and lean in the doorway hoping nothing gives Jinx and Isha away.
“Sorry Ekko. But I think we may have had a security breech. There were multiple new scuffs and scratches along the far wall where the pipes are.”
Shit. That’s from Jinx when she was climbing down. She was so tired and with Isha to worry about she wasn’t her usual nimble self. I’m scrambling for some sort of way to delay me leaving when Isha - gods bless her - rolled over in her sleep. The blanket falling off her head. Scar notices her immediately and looks at me expectantly as silence stretches long and loud between us.
Sighing, I open the door wider, “Come in. I’ll explain.”
He looks confused but walks past me and sits down on the couch nonetheless. Closing the door behind me I turn and look at the shelf Jinx is behind to see her peaking out from behind. She looks confused, scared almost. I try to silently convey that I’ve got this and turn back to Scar.
“Ok, I need you to just like, chill out for a second and not freak out.”
He raises an eyebrow but nods and I know that’s a horrible way to start an explanation, but for this to go well I need him to not threaten Jinx. But if anyone will understand it’s Scar. I trust him to trust me.
“Ok,” I breathe out before turning to where Jinx is hiding, “will you come out, please?”
There’s silence. Not a movement to be seen and you’d think I was going crazy, talking to people who weren’t there. I guess this is how Jinx feels.
“Please, just trust me. I won’t let anything happen to you or Isha.”
At this, she creeps out from behind the shelf and stands on the opposite side of the room. She looks small, timid, but somehow also like she’s daring either of us to make a move against her. Scar’s eyes widen and he turns to me, demanding answers.
“Ekko what is this, why is she here?”
Isha starts to stir at the loud voice and turns towards it, looking for the cause of commotion. When she spots Scar she sits up, complete alert and looks around for Jinx who’s already watching the girl intently. I can see a faint glow in Jinx’s scarlet eyes, her body is tense and I know she’s waiting for Scar to try and attack her or Isha. Again, I’m in shock seeing her only concern being Isha, watching the little girl’s every step as she runs towards her after seeing the stranger. Jinx kneels down and gives Isha a small smile, caressing her cheek before standing back up and tucking her behind her legs.
Calmly, but firmly I turn to Scar, “Her kid needed help. She can’t trust anyone else here in Zaun so she came to me,” I start to explain, “She has no intent of hurting anyone here. She just needed help.”
Scar still doesn’t seem fully convinced but he sits down and the tension in the room seems to lessen a little.
He looks at the two girls for a moment before speaking, “How long have they been here?”
“They’ve only been here for an hour or two.”
“How does she know where we are? Who knows if she’ll sell us out.”
Both Jinx and I are offended by the last question. She probably would’ve said something not meant for Isha’s ears but I had already started talking.
“Jinx has known where we’ve been this whole time. She never sold us out, not when she was with Silco or Sevika, so why would she now?” Scar looks less skeptical but I still continue. “She was with me when I first found this place. She always knew that I would end up here.”
There are no more questions after that. Scar is reminded during that answer that no matter how long it’s been, Jinx and I have still known each other our entire lives. There is still love left over from our beautiful mess of a childhood that neither of us can shake.
Isha and Jinx look less tense now, but still watch the two of us cautiously.
“Please don’t tell anyone they’re here. I know most the other firelights will hate it, but I just couldn’t leave them. I had to help.”
Scar nods with understanding. With the other kids here, he knows how much they mean. He knows that I would never leave someone in need of help, especially not these people.
“I won’t tell. But be careful. Who knows what could happen with the others around here. I’ll keep quiet. I hope the kid heals up alright. Good night to all of you.”
He stands and walks out, carefully closing the door behind him. He smiles at me and nods as he does and I know he understands. I also know that I will probably get the ‘are you sure you’re not in love with Jinx’ talk again but that’s a future problem.
I sigh and turn back to the two blue haired girls in my room ready for a scolding from Jinx. Instead I’m met with a sight that makes me absolutely melt. Isha has her arms reached up at Jinx who smiles and picks her up, sitting Isha on her hip. Her braids swish behind her as Isha wraps her little arms around her and she presses her forehead to the girl’s hair. When Isha pulls away, she looks up at Jinx sleepily and starts gesturing for Jinx to do something. Jinx laughs softly, shaking her head but relents, giving Isha what she wants.
What came next made me think I was dreaming because this could not be the same Jinx I knew. Jinx, remarkably, starts singing and Isha giggles with happiness smiling almost impossibly wide. She continues to sing as she carries Isha back to the bed, placing her down and sitting beside her. As Jinx pulls the blanket up over her, Isha looks up and her with wide eyes and smile that holds all the love the world could give. I can feel tears prick at my eyes as I continue to watch them, softly humming the tune underneath my breath. Jinx finishes the song and gently brushes the hair from Isha’s eyes and bids her goodnight.
Jinx gets up and walks back around to the couch and sits down. She sees me smiling at her and rolls her eyes turning her face from me to try and hide the light blush on her cheeks. I chuckle a little and make my way over to the couch and sit down next to her, still smiling from watching her with Isha.
“Y’know I think I recognise that tune Jinx. Where’d you get it from?”
She knows I know it.
“Oh, just a little something mum taught me. I have no idea how you would know that though.”
We share a small smile as we both think back to earliest memories, falling asleep in the last drop’s basement at a massive sleepover. Her mum would sing to us to get us to sleep, either covering the noise of the fighting above or attempting to calm us to sleep. That tune has never left my memory and I find myself humming it some nights when I can’t fall asleep. Reliving those memories always comes with a pang of grief. The loss of friends. Family. Not just to the hands of death, but the combined grip of trauma and time.
“I should’ve tried harder.”
It slips from my tongue unbidden and Jinx is brought back from her trip down memory lane. She looks back at me and shakes her head.
“Ekko. We’ve had this conversation before. It would’ve taken a lot to convince me to leave Silco. And though what he did wasn’t great, he kept me alive,” she pauses before continuing, “he cared about me. In his own way.”
I sigh, looking at the girl in front of me. She was my best friend. We would sneak off together constantly, causing trouble and inventing new things. She’s brilliant and fun and beautiful but time has broken her spirit. Now she’s sitting on my couch after we haven’t seen each other in months as Piltover’s most wanted, battered and bruised with a little girl who absolutely adores her.
“I just wish it didn’t have to be this way. I wish it was still the two of us being a pain in the ass to the Pilties. I just…I miss you sometimes I guess.”
It feels nice to get it out of head and into the open. Jinx is silent for a moment, thinking over what I’ve said. Grappling with the fact that somewhere out there still does enjoy her company.
“Okay Little Man, no need to get mushy. But, I miss you too sometimes…I guess,” she looks back at me before continuing, “it’s not like we’re not being pains in the asses to Piltover though. Just think of it as a…combined effort.”
I laugh a little at her. She’s not wrong. Piltover hates the both of us. The only difference is that they actually know who she is and have no idea who I am. Someone has to take one for the team. It’s then that Isha appears, seemingly out of no where, rubbing her eyes and walking to the space between us on the couch. She manages to pull herself up and sit between us, giving Jinx a toothy smile.
Jinx smiles back at her, then says “How did you manage to sneak up on us hmm? Can’t sleep well?”
Isha nods and shuffles closer to Jinx who lifts her arm as Isha gets comfortable. Once she’s cuddle up at Jinx’s side she looks back at me and tilts her head. Having no idea what that means, I copy her and she giggles at it. Jinx laughs a little before looking back up at me and smiling. She really loves that kid. Like, a lot. Isha turns to Jinx and taps her leg to get her attention. She points at Jinx and then me, looking confused and Jinx sighs.
“Ekko and I have known each other for a long time,” she pauses, eyes flicking to me then back down to Isha, “Remember when I told you that I used to have a different name?”
Isha nods.
“Well Ekko and I met when I was still Powder. Sometimes he slips up and still calls me that,” she says smirking up at me, “but he’s always been pretty cool. Obviously not as cool as me, but kinda cool.”
I scoff and roll my eyes as Isha laughs. Determined to make some sort of case for myself, I speak up from my end of the couch.
“Isha, did you know that when we were younger, Jinx used to have to come to me for help with her inventions?”
I raise an eyebrow as Jinx gives me a once over. Challenge accepted. What have I gotten myself into now. Isha looks to Jinx for confirmation and Jinx just shrugs.
“I mean, sometimes I’d let Ekko help me. But it was mostly because he owed me for saving him from the enforcers so many times.”
“I did not need saving thank you I had it under control.”
Jinx tilts her head, “Sure you did little man,” she then leans down and loudly whispers to Isha, “his ego’s a little fragile we’ll let him have this one.”
Isha giggles as I pull an over exasperated face and put my hand over my heart in mock hurt. She then seems to notice something about me and starts to move towards me. She crawls into my lap and stands up without any warning causing me to instinctively grab her so she doesn’t fall. Seemingly oblivious to the slight danger of standing up, Isha reaches up into my hair and looks at the cusp in my hair. Jinx and I share a confused look but we let her do her thing. After inspecting it, Isha looks straight at me and smiles widely before launching into a hug, her little arms wrapping around my neck. I freeze for a moment, unsure what sparked this, but hug her back.
When she lets go she sits down on my lap and reaches into her vest pulling something out. It’s a small chain with pendant on the bottom. She grabs the pendant and shows it to me, pointing at it proudly. When I see it properly my eyes widen. It’s a circle, and in the middle of it, an hourglass is carved. The symbol of the firelights which is also carved onto the cusp in my hair. The pendant triggers a memory, buried deep in the depths of my childhood. I made this. In Benzo’s shop. As a gift.
I turn to Jinx, mouth slightly open in surprise. She kept it. She meets my eyes, her cheeks tinted pink and shy smile on her lips. She looks down at her hands, picking at the sides of her nails and I look back down at Isha, who’s very confused while she watches us.
“I always kept it with me. I would’ve killed to be part of this little thing you had going on,” she looks back up at me again, “I stayed away though. I couldn’t risk messing it up. You were the only person from my past that didn’t haunt me, I owed you that much.”
I was trying my best to swallow the lump in my throat. She looked at me and shook her head, fixing me with a stern look, which slowly fractured with welling tears as she spoke.
“Don’t look at me like that Ekko. I never hated you I just-I…” she paused, eyes searching my face, “please say something.”
“I never believed you hated me. Not for a second,” I took the chain in my hand and held it out to her, “you were worth every scar on my body. You were worth every fight and argument it took for us to get here.”
Jinx is quiet as her hand meets mine, taking the chain and studying it in her hands. The tears in her eyes fell in spite of her efforts to stop them and she looks back up at me with shining eyes. Isha looks concerned at the sight of her crying and starts getting up to comfort her but Jinx has already closed the distance between us and wrapped her arms around me in a hug. I adjust my body so I can fully envelope Jinx and show her that I meant every word.
Isha wriggles her way between us to fit in to the hug and her little arms try their best to hug both of us at the same time. Jinx and I let out a teary laugh at this and move to incorporate her in a group hug. We stay there for a moment, in our own little world where it’s just the three of us. When we let go of each other I raise my hand up to wipe away the tears on Jinx’s face. She puts a hand on top of mine, holding it as she moves it down from her face and eyes not leaving mine.
“I don’t deserve your stubborn kindness Boy Saviour. But I’m forever grateful to have it.”
We both smile softly at each other, in our own little bubble of calm. Our bubble is burst after a moment by our sweet Isha who puts her hand on top of our entwined ones, smiling up at us both. In the early hours of the morning, the three of us curled up on the couch. Jinx and I both had an arm protectively wrapped around Isha who was very comfortable lying on top of us both. Jinx rests her head on my chest with her free arm wrapped around mine. My free arm is draped over her shoulder and I gently brush my fingertips over her arm and she lets out a content sigh.
“Goodnight Jinx.” I say softly.
“Goodnight Ekko.” She whispers back.