Archive of Our Own ^beta

“You know, I learned from someone—” Ekko holds out a hand to Jinx, eyes meeting hers, and she looks back at him. Time stops, but his fingers aren’t near the chain of the Z-Drive, nor pulling at it. Her pink shimmering eyes almost seem to blind him as he fights against it silently, grasping at every second he can. Though it pains him, his eyes dart away for a split second. “—very special… that no matter what happened in the past, it’s never too late to build something new.” 

He brings his eyes back up to hers, trying his best to avoid looking at the explosive in her hand that was still flashing colours; waiting dutifully for its trigger to be activated. He finds her dulled, violet eyes wandering over at his side, over at the device he had created with Heimerdinger and her . The small little monkeys inside, spinning round and round, slowly, circling that tiny orb—the miniature wild rune—and its radiating bright blue light. It was unmistakable; a crafted creature that could only belong to a certain blue-haired genius. 

His eyes glance over too, meeting her halfway, like he always did. Instantly, he knows she knows. Jinx is far from stupid. He can see the tiniest of gears turning in her head. Even with her clouded mind and current judgement, he knows her too well. Her eyes may be puffy, her makeup smeared from tears, along with being devoid of will, but they were like windows to him, windows he’s been staring into his entire life. He can stare at them forever, even if it pains him to never blink again. 

As he removes his eyes away from the device and back at hers, dark eyes locking with her muted pink ones, he softly says, “Someone worth building it for.” 

Time ticks as he waits. He seems to be doing a lot of that lately. 

One second. Every time Jinx’s eyes move, his follows. Were those the right words? Did he make a mistake? 

Two. His head throbs, distantly aware of the blood on his face, the causation of his injuries clutched in Jinx’s hands. 

Three. Her eyes flit somewhere else again for just a moment, like she was leaving him, abandoning him. They didn’t stray far before coming back home to him. Her shoulders droop, losing a bit of their tension. He swallows an uncomfortable lump in his throat. 

Four. A feeling in his heart, like it’s being squeezed. It’s Jinx’s fingers holding his heart, his fate, in her palm. It seems to soar, yet pound like snare drums. He swears she can hear his thoughts, begging: please please please . Pink and blue painted nails continue to dig deeper into his chest. 

He waits. Still, even now, he waits for her, eyes searching desperately for something in hers. The bomb idly ticks on with its flashing glimmer, the pin dutifully waiting for its master. 

Do something, do something!  

Taking his unoccupied hand that’s already been reaching out for her, he risks a touch to her pale shoulder. A gentle gesture, nothing more than a feather-light touch, best as he can manage with his glove. As he gauges each and every minor twitch on her face and body, he allows his entire palm to lay flat on her skin, cautiously slow. Hopefully, maybe, Ekko thinks, it can ground her. Make her see that he’s serious about this. He notes that her skin is cold to the touch, even with his gloves on. She’s beyond freezing. Hoping the gloves on his hands are at least a bit warm, he presses a bit further, giving some of his body weight to it. He’s hoping she finds it okay he’s touching her like this. 

She barely reacts, shifting her gaze away from his smudged hourglass face paint; flickering her half-dead pink eyes like an old clock. One— slowly — two, three — pause —four, landing on the bomb in her palms, now with the addition of his hand scarcely in view at the very corners of her vision, but there nevertheless. The knuckle of his glove is far from being free of its own carnage; with blood and many small shrapnel cuts and dirt coating it. 

She doesn’t spare him a glance, but Ekko has searched her eyes enough to notice a subtle change, a small shimmer of something in her eyes. Realization, perhaps? Hope? Relief? 

He holds his breath, watching as her thumb grazes over the metal material of the bomb, the skin around her thumb nail polish irritated, chipped and a dirty red. Bits of crimson cling onto the tip of her index nail. 

Hesitantly, she let the bomb drop from her hands. He sucks in a breath before releasing a heavy sigh of relief as it drops into the shadows below. Luckily, Jinx didn’t decide to chase after it. Instead, her pupils dilate, eyes blinking rapidly as she takes in his form properly, his entire frame relaxing for the first time. Hunching his back, utter relief washing over him, he hears whispering words escape from Jinx. 

“You… You’re real…?” Her voice breaks, and the pure realization that dawns on her face shatters something dear and deep inside of Ekko’s chest. The faraway walls feel suffocating, threatening in close in on both of them. 

Ekko’s exhausted pants are cut short as he takes in the words that fall from her mouth. He watches the way her lip trembles and her face scrunches, eyebrows furrowing while desperation clouds her vision. Glistening eyes meet his wide, kind ones. He pauses before blinking, barely registering the sound of the blasting bomb booming below, echoing beneath their feet, as darkness swallows it whole. Blue light radiates in his vision, and it bursts like wildfire. 

“Yeah,” Ekko finally finds his voice again, giving her a reassuring nod. “Yeah, I’m real. I-I’m here, Jinx. I’m really here. You’re okay. We’re okay.” He adds the last bit, not knowing if it’s to comfort her or himself. Maybe both. Definitely both. 

Jinx’s heart strains at the unwavering kindness that coats his words. His words thrum against her skull as her throat tightens, an evil burning sensation staining her tongue. She sputters out something that sounds like his name, tattered in two. It takes every ounce of will she still has left to stifle the emotions that threaten to bubble up and spill. 

Her gaze flicks from his hand that remains on her skin to his face. Everything sinks. Oh… his face . It bears a sadness that is both kind and pleading, eyes creasing and dry lips choking on air and whatever feelings that are worming their way up in his throat. Fresh blood slithering down the sides of his face, unbeknownst to him, as many other sensations taking over Ekko. 

She notices his eyes dart around her face, analyzing and memorizing, as he cautiously takes his left hand and places it on her unoccupied shoulder. Fully facing one another now, they expose themselves to another without violence. The clothes they wear, the bodies they bear, and how they’ve grown. How they’ve hurt, both each other and themselves. Neither one holds resentment or indicates so. 

The painful coolness she previously felt now feels miles away. Ekko’s right hand trails to her face, cupping her cheek, his gloved calloused thumb caressing soft skin, fruitlessly wiping away at the makeup smears on her face. It seems permanently embedded in her skin now, becoming one with her and her grief. Warmth grips her heart and spreads across her face while his hand moves to its next stop, toward the back of her head. He takes his time, enamoured, making a memorable experience out of every second. Gliding his hand through her freshly cut hair, admiring the ocean of short hair that tickles even through his glove. 

The kind touch feels so foreign, so much so that Jinx’s mind wants to reject it, but her body is welcoming it. Daring to trust again just for a second— foolish! Her mind nags at her—she leans slightly into Ekko’s forearm, the sensation causing jolts of running electricity from the contact, the skin to skin feeling strikingly pleasant. 

It’s him. Through powder and blood, she can smell him.

They share a look. Her sad eyes shine while his eyes crinkle at the edges and melt as his lips tremble. Jinx’s shoulders shake as she teeters on the verge of breaking out in unrestrained sobs. She bites her lip, wanting to focus on the pain instead, but the comforting presence of Ekko wins her over. 

A shaky breath leaves her, a simple wisp in the air. She thought she was done with crying, thinking the ducts in her eyes were all emptied out, had run dry. She couldn’t have been more wrong. 

Without even realizing it, Ekko takes a step. His numb feet move without control, and without hesitation or thinking, he embraces her. Practically collapses into her, exhaustion and relief coursing through his body at light speed. Ekko’s larger frame envelopes her lean one completely, his nose burying itself into her neck. Cold meets warm, genius and madness, while the built up emotions instantly come tumbling out, raw and messy, worn unabashed on their sleeves. 

Immediately his gloved hand finds the back of her head, cradling her like she’s the most precious being in the world. To him, she is. At this moment, she is. In every single way, she is. At this very second, their hearts are one, beaten down and broken, thumping in tandem with one another, separated only by bodies. They haven’t been this close in such a long time, Ekko doesn’t know how he ever lived apart from her. Didn’t realize how much he truly misses it. How much he really missed Jinx.

Heaving out a stuttering huff, Jinx crumples in Ekko’s arms, her hands coming up to hug him back, nails pressing into his clothes, borderline clawing, begging him to stay. The pressure is warm. He’s so warm, and yet she shivers, unable to help herself. 

A wetness spreads across his shoulder and sternum. Jinx’s muffled sobs fill the air. She’s choking on her tongue, like she’s not sure how to cry anymore, or that she doesn’t want to, but somehow still having tears left to cry and is not sure what to do with the pure heaviness of it all. 

He’s crying too, silently, burning his lungs from the inside out to muffle his cries. Jinx wouldn’t have known if it wasn’t for the occasional sniffling and jump in his shoulders. If his makeup wasn't completely ruined before, it is now. Tear streaks make themselves known as they race down his face. 

Jinx’s heart swells impossibly more. Everything feels so soft. She wishes it could be soft like this forever. The world has been so cruel and cold lately, so much so she wasn’t sure she would ever know this feeling again. 

Neither pull away. Their tears dry, marking the skin of their cheeks. Hot breaths emanate  from both Jinx and Ekko hitting the respective skin of the other, leaving patches of warmth on one another. 

He’s really here. He’s not dead. She’s alive. They’re both alive. He’s saved her. She’s here with him. She’s breathing. He’s breathing. 

By the way Jinx’s body is now relaxed in his grip, he can tell she’s worn herself thin; mentally, emotionally, and physically. It’s not too far off to say the same for himself. 

“Alright, boy saviour,” Jinx finally rasps, exhaustion seeping into every word. “What now?” 

Her wiry body disconnects from him, stepping away. Curling her frame, she sinks into herself once more, arms hugging herself.

Allowing himself to finally take in a proper deep, calming breath, he takes a step back and wipes at his face, the rusted plated floor creaking underneath him. Cautious and delicate, he gives her some space. He tries to ignore the gorgeous way Jinx’s hair— short hair—falls against her ears and cheeks like tiny blue angel wings. He didn’t have time to focus on it before, but he noticed it. He noticed it over and over again. 

She cut her hair… He gulps down his question about it. Not the right time. 

He wipes at his forehead with the back of his palm before immediately stopping and scowling, drawing back his hand, noting the dust and fresh blood coating his raw fingers and knuckle. Wiping his hands against his pants fruitlessly, he carefully watches her expression. She gives him a look, and then notices the stains on the fabric of his hands. 

“Well, uh…” Uncertainty makes itself evident in his voice. 

There had been a semblance of a plan that had formed in his head, resembling something like: 

Meet up with the Firelights. Find Jinx and recruit her, and then save the world and everyone. Basically. 

Sounds so much easier than it actually is. He doesn’t even know what to say now . Words don’t usually fail him, but they always seem the hardest to choke out sentences that make sense when he’s face-to-face with his old childhood friend. 

His whole body sags as the current situation, the sight that had just been in front of him, finally hits him full force. He just stopped Jinx from finally blowing herself up, along with him. She was planning to die, and he wouldn’t even know. Would he even be able to find any remnants of her left…? 

He shakes his head, ripping away the grim thoughts that risked plaguing his mind. 

“I… came here for you.” He phrases it almost like a question, the cadence of his voice rising. “I—Okay, a lot of stuff happened, and I need you, Jinx. Need your help. Everyone in Zaun does. There’s people we can save. That you can save, if you’ll help me.”  

Jinx turns away with a frown, a guilty expression ghosting through her face. She makes no effort to sit up or move away, crooking her back deeper into herself, taut and smaller than ever. Arms wrapping around herself in a desperate hug, as her hand touches the place Ekko’s hand had graced just a moment earlier, thumb grazing that same patch of skin. 

With no reply, he feels doubt begin to creep into his mind. Ignoring the raging pulsing in his tendons while in the midst of racking his brain on what to say next, he takes in a breath. He sets the Z-Drive on the ground next to him, before moving it away so he can tap the space beside him, suggesting Jinx to sit at his side. 

Jinx is worryingly quiet. Nonetheless, she still seats herself beside him, barely making a sound. 

Now that Ekko’s finally off of his legs, he can feel the myriad of muscle strains in his body. Weariness picking away at him, piece by piece, he admits to the girl next to him, “Jinx, I’m really scared.” 

Any determination that was alight in his heart is slowly being snuffed out, replaced only by a terrified boy, and his childhood friend sitting next to him he so badly wanted to come home to him, and meet him halfway like she used to. 

Upon voicing his confession and not receiving a reply back, he continues talking, running a gloved hand through his messy locks. 

“So much has happened, and I know it seems like there’s no happy end in sight. I’m all over the place, believe me, and I know you are, too. But, I promise you… that you can help. And I can help you as well. We’ll help each other, like we used to. You can use that amazing mind of yours for good . You can be good . I’m… I won’t give up on you, alright? I’ll stay right here as long as I need to. I swear.” 

Jinx didn’t budge or acknowledge his words. He holds in a breath, his fingers gliding and tapping anxiously against the Z-Drive as if it would stop his heart from beating out of his chest. 

“I didn’t ask to be saved,” Jinx’s voice cracks as she whispers into the confines of knees, limbs bunching up against her chest. Her nails dig sharply into the cloth of her pants, leaving a moon-shaped imprint.

“You never have to ask.” His voice is blunt but calm. “I’ll save you no matter what. You know that, don’t you? I’m here now. I’m not going anywhere.” Ekko scoots a bit closer to her, just a smidge. Jinx doesn’t seem to mind, since Ekko doesn’t see anything indicating it on her face. 

Silence enters the space once more, though it’s not awkward or even resembling burdensome. It just mostly echoes a simpleness, unsaid words hanging in the air. Maybe Jinx tries to calm the low buzzing in her brain, thinking Ekko can hear it. Ekko thinks Jinx is trying to read his mind, digging through all of his emotions and picking them out. 

“So, uh,” Ekko tries again, trying a new angle, breaking the silence. “New haircut, huh? Looks good on you. Not that I didn’t like the braids, I did, but this look is nice too. Why’d… why’d you cut it?” 

Ekko waits for a response, fearing he won't get one. It finally comes, slowly but surely, and Ekko’s heart jumps into his throat. 

“Didn’t want the memories that were attached to it anymore,” she murmurs, speech muffled from her mouth digging against her forearms as she kept hugging herself. “Hurt too much to have. I guess.” 

Then, she sluggishly turns her body around, now facing Ekko, before bringing her head upright, posture a bit more relaxed. “Look different now, don’t I?” 

Ekko nods, secretly desperately wanting to wipe away those dark stained tear tracks on her face. “Yeah…” 

Jinx turns away. “Is it atleast a good kind of different?” Unusual sheepishness lacing her words. 

He nods again, reassuringly. “Good kind of different.”

He watches as Jinx’s body expands and then deflates, barely audible breaths emitting from her. His words seem to convince her as her gaze finally tears away from the sight in front of her, looking at Ekko and he sees her let herself really take in the features of his face. The messy white hourglass makeup, so ruined it’s barely noticeable, save for a few spots, along with the fresh crimson ichor etched into the side of his face. The small, kind smile that tugs at the corners of his mouth. Every single micro-expression that he makes causes her stomach to squirm. 

“You look different too,” Jinx mutters, jutting her chin at him. “You look terrible.” 

“Oh, gee, thanks.” Ekko remarks sarcastically, rolling his eyes. 

“So. What happened to you?”   

The throbbing in his fingers and wounds that seemingly faded now decide to make itself known to him, and he can’t find the will power to suppress a wince. Creasing his brow, he figures that due to being up close to the consecutive powerful explosions of the bomb, his facepaint had also worn off. 

He forces a chuckle and it burns in his throat, spreading to his jaws. Taking a swipe at his forehead, he instantly regrets it as another jolt of pain shoots through him. “All this? Don’t worry about it.” 

Jinx’s unblinking gaze makes him uneasy. 

Shaking his head, he waves a tired hand. “Seriously, it’s nothing. I’m fine.” A nonchalant shrug at the end of his sentence does nothing to convince her. Jinx sees right through him. Anyone who wasn’t stupid and blind can see the bullshit and blood all over his face. He notices the smeared red on his glove and tries to wipe it off, only spreading it to his other glove. 

A thin hush hangs in the air. 

Ekko racks his brain for more to say. Anything and everything that comes to mind just doesn’t seem right. Months ago, when they let their fists talk instead, it all seemed so much easier. Violence always seems easier. But, now that he’s being vulnerable with her for the first time in a long time, and she’s apparently reciprocating that, his brain didn’t pick up that this was ever a possibility. He never thought of this outcome, but now it’s all he can think about. 

“What’s that thing you got there?” Jinx questions. She sounds utterly exhausted, a wisp of what energy she used to have fading by the second. 

Ekko sees her pointing at the Z-Drive, pink orbs now zoning in on the device, trying to get a closer look at it, gleaming with minor intrigue and curiosity. Ekko had a feeling this was going to come up. There’s no easy way around it, really, especially with someone like Jinx. 

“Long story. Not sure it would interest you,” he says half-jokingly but also trying to steer Jinx away from the topic. Ultimately, he knows it’s futile. 

“Tell me how you got that thing or else I’m not helping you.” Jinx announces to him, expression serious and stubborn, though carrying no inner strength at all. 

Ekko hangs his head, huffing a humorless laugh. For a couple minutes, he forgot who exactly he was face-to-face with. Rubbing his tense jaw, he sighs dejectedly, before straightening his back, his brain fully taking in her words.  

“Wait, so you’ll help then? Protect Zaun?” A sceptical rise in his voice, conveying a sliver of newfound hope. 

“Not if you don’t tell me what’s up with that device.” Jinx pauses for a bit, eyes sticking to the Z-Drive. “I recognize that. Only I can make something like that.” He knows she’s referring to the glowing, slow spinning monkeys. He knew she recognized them back there. That brain of hers, even in a situation like that, capable of quickly putting together the bits and pieces. “Only me. But I never made that. So how can you have it, if I didn’t make it?” 

“That’s the thing,” Ekko lets out a deep sigh, giving in. “You… did make it. Help me make it, anyway.” He tears away to look at the Z-Drive. The radiating light shines beautifully against his fingers. He remembers the careful crafting that went into creating it. A desperation and longing, tied to memory. All of everything in his soul, pushing him to keep going. 

He looks at her, and he can see the second cogs start to turn in her head. 

Ekko couldn’t begin to fathom what emotions had just overtaken Jinx. It’s become so hard to read Jinx sometimes, even more so since she’s changed so much. Not to mention the fact he hasn’t seen her in months. 

An uneasy feeling churns in his stomach as he recalls their fight on the bridge, the busting blast of her bomb right next to them both, her bloody dusted face haunting him. Even though she had just nearly killed them both back then, he stopped to press two fingers to her neck, making sure she at least still had a pulse before booking it, stumbling and wincing at the pressure he was forced to put on his injured leg. He couldn’t bear to spare a look behind him. 

He sucks in a deep breath, steadying himself. 

“If I tell you this, will you fight with me, instead of against me? We gotta be there for each other, even if it’s just for a little bit.” There’s more he’d like to say, but the thought falls flat. 

Jinx’s eyes waver. Then she shrugs halfheartedly. 

“Yeah. Promise,” Jinx replies, a lilt in her voice. 

“Really?” Ekko crosses his arms, raising a brow. 

“What, you wanna pinkie promise on it or something?” Jinx holds up her little finger to him and Ekko’s just now noticing her middle finger is now a metal one. 

“What happened there?” Ekko’s eyes narrow when he sights it. 

“It got shot off. No big deal.” She shrugs like it truly was not a big deal. 

Ekko accepts it for now, thinking to himself just what the hell went on while he was gone. He reminds himself to ask her for the full story about it later, if she’s willing. 

“Okay, so…” Proceeding to tell her about the events that transpired after he met Heimerdinger the bridge, he gauges her reactions. She didn’t seem interested much when he mentioned Heimerdinger. He recalls to her how Heimerdinger helped him, and how he brought him to the Firelight base. The two then formed a bond like a teacher and his pupil. How he learned so much from being under Heimerdinger’s wing. Then, he tells her that there was something wrong, along the lines of importance to him, causing the two to go and look for someone who was knowledgeable. 

“The Piltie? The Talis boy?” Jinx groans.  “He’s so smug, thinking he’s all that.”  

“Yeah, the Talis guy. Look, I don’t like him much either, but he knew a lot of stuff with runes and, y’know, Hextech, obviously, so that’s why Heimerdinger figured he could help, and-” 

“How long is this story?” Jinx interrupts. 

“I told you a lot of stuff happened!” 

“Give me the rundown. The important stuff.”

“This is important stuff! I thought you wanted to know the whole story!” 

“I don’t care about the Professor or Hextech guy. I wanna know about this .” She presses her finger hard against the casing of the Z-Drive, a small divide between nail and time. “This is what’s important to me. I wanna know about this because it’s obviously the most important to you .” 

“Alright!” Not wanting to argue, he concedes, holding his head in his hands. “It’s sorta hard to explain, but when we went deep underground, where everything related to the arcane seemed to be happening and spreading from, somehow… all three of us got teleported into different universes.” 

“Different universes… Huh. Didn’t know that was possible. Leave it to the magic of the world to do the impossible, I guess.” Ekko knows Jinx is beyond interested in this, even though the way she conveys it betrays that. He can see the little calculations going on in her brain. Albeit weak and tired, but there. It’s hard to read her since her eyes don’t seem to have much of a spark right now. 

“Yeah. It was super trippy. I can’t remember what happened in between, but I remember waking up in that universe, and I was still me, but some things looked different. My hair. My clothes. Everything was so clean. And everyone around me looked different, too. Like… you.” 

“Me? How different?” Jinx asks, though it sounds like she almost didn’t want to know. 

“Well, in that universe, you still went by…” Ekko waits before saying it, watching the way Jinx’s face changes when she understands what he means. “Powder.” 

Ekko keeps a keen eye on her reactions. She didn’t seem too happy by him saying that name. 

“And you still had blue eyes. Um, your hair was different. You did it in two separate buns and-” 

“Stop saying ‘you.’,” Jinx interrupts sternly, and it causes Ekko to recoil in surprise. “That wasn’t me. I’m Jinx, not Powder.” 

Ekko backtracks. “You’re right. Sorry.” He scratches at his neck, mentally berating himself for not thinking through his words more, heart sinking by the second. 

“The next person I saw was Benzo.” 

“Benzo?” she repeats, eyes widening a bit, like it’s her first time hearing that name in years. 

“Yeah. He… In that universe, he didn’t die. Neither did a lot of people we knew. People like Vander, Claggor, Mylo, even Silco.”

Each name he says to her causes her tired eyes to widen impossibly more. Name after name causes her face to scrunch up, not sure how to feel. 

“You,” Jinx can’t help blinking from her surprise, voice crackling. “You saw all of them? Alive? Happy?”  

Ekko nods, and continues with a wistful smile. “Benzo had these—heh!—these old man glasses. And Mylo had this weird mustache, and Claggor was way taller. Vander and Silco forgave each other, too. Not sure exactly what happened or what conversations went down between those two for them to get along, but it was… a surprise to say the least. But everyone was so happy there. Like everything was okay. Like there had never been death in the first place. It was so bright and warm. Zaun and Piltover, being one people. Without war, without violence. I used to dream at night about Zaunites and Pilties getting along like that, and I was finally seeing it. Not just seeing it, but living it, too.” 

He turns to her and it’s clear she’s been hanging onto each word that falls from his mouth. 

“That’s the world I’m asking you to fight for. Call me whatever you want, but that’s what I’d like to be fighting for.” 

Jinx, surprisingly, didn’t interrupt once he started to talk about the more intricate details about the other universe. Anything specific he could remember about the people, environment, what they sounded like, what went on. Enraptured and completely taken in by Ekko’s words, she listened with bated breath. It’s clear that by now she believes him. Fully. Watching his eyes sparkle when he spoke about having conversations with the people that were gone in their universe. How he wished so badly he could’ve seen it all happen in real time. 

“After I met up with the Professor, we talked a bit, and I went off on my own, trying to find my way back home. He was saying stuff about how there’s no way back, and that I should get comfortable here, like he did. But I couldn’t do that. All I could think about was getting back to you, back to my universe. I…” 

Whatever memories started to bubble up for Ekko caused him to take a breather, pushing down his nerves. 

“And so, I found the apartment. The one I tipped you guys on all those years ago. That’s where it all started. Only it went differently there than it did here.” Ekko’s face screams that he doesn’t want to spit it out, but Jinx’s expecting gaze forces him to continue. 

“The difference was that… the explosion that happened in that place… Vi didn’t get so lucky.” 

It all went unsaid. Vi was dead. Died in that universe. Young and scared, young and forever will be. That’s the first price of peace, it seems. Life, Vi’s life, being taken from the world too early. One singular person being the causation of Hextech never being produced, leading to a world without it, allowing it to prosper. 

Despite the horrified, everlasting sad look in Jinx’s eyes, he powers through the heartache, keeping his tone soft and slow, allowing her time to take it in. 

“From the explosion, small bits of the crystal stayed in the wall for years. I figured getting enough of it could be enough to recreate the anomaly and get us back home.” 

He presents the Z-Drive, brimming light in the midst of darkness. 

“Time loop. Think you can tell it worked, more or less. I was able to get Powder to help me and the Professor with it. You should’ve seen the three of us working together on it. All of us, creating and building something. I loved seeing how she shined, even as she had dirt on her face. She looked like you sometimes, in the way you both loved making stuff, how smart you guys are. Powder is still you, Jinx, and Powder is Jinx as well. If the two of you stood side by side, I think you’d see that.”

Ekko realizes he had started to ramble, before catching himself. 

“Anyway, yeah. It took a long time, but we were able to make the device, with Powder being the one who added the monkeys.” He looks down at his hands, fidgeting. 

“Heimerdinger didn’t make it though. He didn’t tell me that the boost he was going to give it needed a manual touch, outside of the area that was supposed to take us back home. So, only I was able to make it back.”

A pained noise escapes from Jinx, and Ekko’s gaze snaps up to her and his heart instantly sinks with guilt. 

“Woah, hey,” Ekko says worryingly, leaning closer to Jinx in an attempt to comfort her. “Are you okay? Do you want me to stop? I can stop. Sorry, I didn’t-” 

“No,” she murmurs, leaning away, shaking her head. “Keep going. I’m okay. It’s fine.” 

“You’re sure?” 

She hums solemnly. “Lemme hear the rest of it.” 

Separating from sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, he starts back up again, ignoring the hot electricity running through his veins. Nervousness sits under his tongue. 

“While Heimerdinger was working on completing everything, there was this dance. I went there and there were so many people. Just… everyone being themselves, happy and uncaring and free, and it felt like I could finally be like that. Happy. Without a care in the world, just for a bit.” 

A smile dashes across his face, unknowingly. 

“We danced. Me and Powder. I had no idea what I was doing, but seeing her dance made me feel like I could too. It was nice. Really nice. I thought that… maybe one day, you and I could dance together like that. Our own kind of dance, though. Just us. Something only for us.” Finding himself slipping back into that sentimental time in which he’ll never forget, he shakes himself out of it before he tumbles into that crack forever. 

He recalls to her other bits worth telling, little moments that were nice and fleeting. 

She notes a faraway look in his eyes, like he’s remembering something especially dear to him, thinking about being and staying in a memory, reliving it again and again as best as his mind could serve him. Then it dissipates, and he leaves it behind, before finally looking at Jinx again. 

“Then, when it was all over, I was able to go back home. Met up with the Firelights quickly before getting here as fast as I could. And… that’s it. That’s the whole story, I guess. You’re all caught up.” 

Immediately, Ekko feels bad. He left out a detail that he knows Jinx should know about. But with him spilling all of that, it seems like it would just add more fuel to the ever burning flames. 

He thought he should be relieved or something of the sort, but nothing but negative thoughts and emotions rocket in his veins. Shoulders slumping, he gets caught up in the look Jinx wears. It’s not an expression he would ever want someone to have. Her eyes seem like they don’t belong to a living person. Solely conveying misery and death inside, windows to the soul seeking no soul at all. He holds regret for sharing the experience, even if Jinx had asked for it. 

If Ekko had felt like him and death were mere acquaintances before, it’s now that they feel like old friends. Old pals of the age that have always been there for each other, forever for worse. 

“You okay, Jinx?” he asks delicately, trying his best not to shatter what was left of her. 

“Just peachy,” she deadpans, “Can’t blame you, though. I did ask for the story. Didn’t expect -” She heaves a sigh, shutting her eyes. “ - all that.” 

“Sounds like you really liked it there,” she whispers, closing in on herself, and Ekko can immediately tell she’s trying to provoke some sort of a reaction out of him. 

Ekko’s jaw clenches before instantly releasing the tension once he takes what must be his hundredth glance at her tear-dried makeup. 

“I did,” he simply says, “But I didn’t ever think of abandoning everyone here. Not for a second. I came back, and I’m here with you now. I need your help now, not Powder’s.” 

Slowly, Ekko stands up, grimacing at the tense soreness in his legs, brushing off the powdered residue on his clothes. Holding out a hand to Jinx, he reminds her, “You promised me you’d help me with this.” His stubbornness rears its head. “A promise -” 

Jinx’s head flops to the side, cutting off his sentence. “ - Is a promise. Yeah, I know.” She sighs, removing herself from the edge she previously teetered from. 

There’s a far off look in her eyes that brews as she stares at his splayed out palm, waiting patiently for hers to meet him halfway. 

Her hand, a fickle thing, takes his, and he hoists her up effortlessly. He notes how light she feels. Lighter than she’s ever seemed before. Keeping her hand in his, he motions to start walking to the exit of the hideout.  

“Damn right. So let’s go.” 

“And where exactly are we going?” Jinx doesn’t try and pull away from his grip. 

“The Firelight base,” he says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. 

Jinx stops in her tracks but is ultimately dragged forward by Ekko, who tosses her a sympathetic look over his shoulder. 

“You’re bringing me to the Firelights? Why? Aren’t they gonna try to kill me as soon as they see me?” 

“The Firelights don’t just go around killing people. You forget I’m a Firelight? And the leader? They’ll listen to me. And I’ll convince them you won’t be a threat.” 

“Big leap there from us trying to kill each other back at that bridge,” she grumbles, scratching at her hair, serving as a reminder that her braids are gone. 

He chokes on the words he wants to say. He wasn’t ever going to kill her on that bridge. Even if he wanted to, he doesn’t think that he would ever be able to kill her. 

“We’re not trying to kill each other now. I saved your ass, we hugged, I told you that story you wanted, and you promised you’d help if I told it to you. That’s more than I’ve gotten out of you in the years I didn’t see you. Call me naive for believing in us, in this, but I don’t think you’ll try to hurt anyone, especially if it means hurting me . You’ve had chances to hurt me when I was talking, but you didn’t. When we hugged, too. You’ve changed. I can see it.” 

The gloved hand that envelops Jinx’s pale one gives a squeeze to her, offhandedly stroking his thumb across the back of her hand. Jinx tries to get an idea of what Ekko’s face looks like as he says all that, but he continues facing forward. 

“At the base, I have people. They’ll help us too. They trust me. I went to them earlier, and they said I’d been gone for so long that they thought I was dead. Even drew me on that mural. Wasn’t able to stay long because I had to get to you. Plus, we’ll have food and things there that can help us. We can come back here for things, if you want. Later, though. Right now, don’t you think two of Zaun’s greatest minds are better off together?” Even though Ekko’s is facing forward, Jinx can make out the remnants of a smirk.

Jinx scoffs with her own appearing smug look. “Please, I’m way smarter than you. It took you, what, months to recreate that thing you have? Give me like, four days and I’ll make another one.” 

“Good luck with that,” he chuckles at the absurdity, and he looks back at her and sees her laughing too, that tooth gap of hers appearing just for his eyes only. 

A warmth spreads across his chest and he’s now hyper aware of her limp hand tucked away in his grasp. 

Yeah, this’ll work. I really hope all of this works.  

Hand-in-hand, Ekko leads Jinx to the Firelight base, his fingers coming up to touch the Z-Drive at all times. Trekking along through the streets with their heads down, they eventually came across the sewers. He sees the look Jinx gives him, and he just gives her another reaffirming squeeze. Dirty, muck-green sewage licks at their shoes. Having taken the route multiple times, all the twists and turns the pipes offered were beyond ingrained in Ekko’s mind. Practically second nature, without a second thought. 

As they venture forth, silence befalls them. With someone like Jinx, Ekko figures that she would be talking his ear off. Though, she’s changed immensely since he last saw her. Beyond just the looks of her, it was more about her soul. What damaged her so badly that she thought Ekko was a hallucination? Therein lies the fact that she blew herself up in front of his eyes several times, half of those times with him getting caught up in it. 

Everything happening made him second guess himself, his vision blurring, siding with the fact that she's hurt a lot of people he cares about, even killing some, and now he’s leading her right to the very haven that’s stood for years, in which he founded and built. He’s risking it all, but weirdly it doesn’t feel like a risk. It just feels like him desperately wishing for his friend back. All those traits that make Jinx Jinx , her intelligence, her wittiness, her preciseness, and her creativity. Searching for signs of the girl he knew. 

And then there was the I see her for who she really, really is. She’s worthy of love. She’s always been, so show her the reason behind fighting for those you love. Even Jinx can see that, despite her blurred vision.  

I saw something like that in her a long time ago, and I let my eyes talk. I wish I said more aloud. 

Ekko’s boots came to a stop, the swirling water stilling around them. A handful of vivid green firelight bugs migrated around Ekko and the passageway. 

“We’re here,” he says matter-of-factly. 

“Oh, so you weren’t just leading me into the sewers for fun,” she says monotonously, raising a brow.  

“Alright. Seriously, Jinx.” His words take on a sincere tone. He turns to his side to look her in the eyes to convey the importance of what he has to say. Shimmer infused irises stare back at him. 

“The Firelight’s are, reasonably, not going to be happy with you here. But, that doesn’t mean that they won’t ever accept you. Trust me when I say the Firelights, every single one of them, are good people. People who understand change more than anyone else. Understand death and being afraid. You can’t blame them for at least having some kind of resentment toward you, even if it’s been a long time.” 

A wandering thought hits Ekko. Are you speaking from experience? It washes away in a rapid landslide. There’s too much hope and love spurring in his heart to have room for hatred toward Jinx. Any anger he has goes towards Piltover, not her. 

“Yeah… I get it. Wait, huh?” She shakes her head. “Are you saying you want me to make friends with them? Show them I’m not big, bad evil Jinx anymore?” Jinx mocks, imitating claws. “You know I haven’t been doing any crazy stuff this past while, right?” 

“No, I don’t know. I’ve kinda been in another universe for months,” Ekko forces out. “Just… show them you care? That you’re willing to help them out. You’ll have to convince some more than others that you’re really willing to fight for Zaun, and that you can be on the same side. People don’t forget easily, even if you did go into hiding.” 

Removing his hand from Jinx’s to use both to open the grate, he adds, “Everything will be fine. You got the leader of the Firelights, the best guy around here, vouching for you. Where would you be without me?” 

“Pft, definitely not -” Jinx began to say before she’s forced to squint, the blinding sight blessing her light sensitive eyes as Ekko pushes the grate to the side, revealing the entrance. 

There proves a massive difference from the dark confines of the sewer. Practically giving Jinx whiplash, each new source of colour and brightness hits her full force. In comparison to the darkness of the sewers, this was heaven. This was beyond. A paradise unlike anything Jinx ever saw in the Undercity. 

What causes Jinx to awe in pure surprise was the largest tree she had ever seen with a mural plastered on it, full of faces. She recognizes most. This place breathed, lively and devoid of death, above and below. Paint and contraptions making this place a home to all those that live within. People, young and older, human and not, coming together as one people, living under the shade of the tree. 

“ - here.” She presses her lips together, watching as a group of people not too far away begin to point in their direction. At the front of it is a grey Vastaya. Kicking up a jog, they all start to make their way over. 

Ekko’s hand is offered to Jinx again, fully in view of any who decide to look their way. Kind eyes and tied together brows tell her whispering words along the lines of Trust me , I got you as he too braces for the approaching Firelights. 

Feeling the glove envelop her palm once more, she let her body slump, fully preparing to be berated and bashed by the Firelights. With Ekko by her side, though, there was a fleeting beginning of a twinkling dream that everything would be just fine. After all, didn’t he say it would be? 

Whatever happened next Jinx sort of completely tuned out. Partly, she wanted to listen to what they were saying, but as the Vastaya adorned with a scarred lip spoke first, breaking apart any semblance of the words that hadn’t even started to spill from Ekko’s, her hearing shut itself off. Muddled frustrations hurl themselves from a couple more of the Firelights mouths. Ekko stands tall in the brunt of it all. 

Barely feeling herself blink, Jinx focuses on the pressure around her hand. Ekko’s red, dark, and dirt stained glove keeping its gentleness, despite all harshness being tossed his way. He stands there, taking in all of their anger with an open heart and a clenched jaw. 

“Are you okay, Ekko? You’re hurt! ” One of the Firelights gasps as they hide behind their fellow comrades' much larger frames. 

“Is that Jinx? Wasn’t she in hiding? Why’d you bring her here?” Another speaks up. 

“Are you sure this is the right decision, Ekko?” 

“Ekko.” This time, it’s the firm voice of the Vastaya with his bat-like ears. “What’s happening here? You didn’t tell us -” 

“I know I didn’t tell any of you. I knew you’d all react like this. Believe me, I understand your anger and frustrations. But, since you all don’t trust her, trust me at least when I say she’s harmless.” 

“Harmless?” Scar says in disbelief, intense green eyes piercing him. “She killed our people, and now you brought her here . What about -” 

“I’ll handle this. All of it.” Ekko tells him sternly, hand gripping Jinx just a tad bit tight. “I’ll tell you everything later, Scar, okay? Then you can let the others know. Please, just, give me a minute alone with her.” 

Scar crosses his arms, proving himself to be very muscular, as he narrows his eyes down toward Ekko. Searching for whatever he’s looking for in Ekko’s eyes, he seems to find it. Genuine truth. Empathy. So, so much empathy for this girl. 

Turning his gaze over to Jinx beside him, he takes in the entirety of her. Her appearance is vastly unlike how he remembers. He wonders where the mania coating her vision is, or the massive gun at her side, or even the braids. Compared to how she seemed to be in his memories, that Jinx has dissipated, replaced only by the eyes of someone who has lost everything that ever gave them hope. The eyes of someone who has nothing left. She’s dangerous, Scar reminds himself, but you can’t fake that. Firelights don’t turn away people that need help. She’s obviously been through loss, too. 

Uncrossing his arms and easing out his posture, he lets out a calming sigh. 

“Cleaned up your place a bit. When you were gone.” Scar motions his head towards Ekko’s quarters. “Should be a decent place for her to stay for now. Keep an eye on her.” 

The thankfulness that bubbles up in Ekko’s chest barely contains itself. Though it is his decision at the end of the day, he never likes having the Firelights go against him. This is why he always likes to communicate with them, upfront and clear. Their words are important, and he never wants them to think otherwise. He treasures all that they are, everything this place has and is, especially including them. 

He sighs in relief. “Thank you, Scar.” He also nods to the others gathered around. “Everyone else, too. I know I’ve been gone for a while, and you’ve been dealing with the thought I was dead for that time, and I’m sorry for that. But I’m here now, and believe me when I say I want nothing more than the best for you all. I believe Jinx can help us with this fight. Trust me when I say that Jinx has changed, and she doesn’t want to hurt any of you.” 

It’s unbelievable just how much Ekko seems to believe his own words. Like he’s trying to convince himself more than the others around him. He seems to be doing a fantastic job at it the way his voice doesn’t waver at all. 

Jinx gives him a side glance, and his eyes are glowing underneath the trickling brightness of the sun. Hair giving off a wonderful sheen of light, blending in with all that is much too vivid for this place. 

Scar accepts Ekko’s response for now, and he motions for the others to scatter. He gives a nod of affirmation to Ekko, who nods back. The Vastaya gives them space as Ekko leads Jinx to his residence. 

It isn’t large by any means, but it’s able to house a couple people (with the aforementioned people sharing a bed). The table with items strewn about all messily is now organized, blueprints and papers and other types of tinkering tools put along the edge of it to make room. Scar knew, even if Ekko was dead, to leave all of his inventions propped up against the side wall. There’s all sorts of metallic pieces placed to the side, making a tower of bolts and rusty sheet metal. 

It’s home. Finally, he’s home. 

Ekko takes in a deep breath before pulling out the chair tucked into the table for Jinx and seating her on it, getting her off of her tired legs. 

Keeping Jinx in his peripheral vision, he goes over to his tiny bedroom, leading past the main area, a bit deeper into the place, and he finds it’s much cleaner than he had left it. A well-made bed awaits him with smooth covers. The patched up wooden nightstand along with no dust bunnies greet him as well. He smiles to himself before taking off his jacket he left on an idle hook. He remembers how out of breath he was from sprinting to make it back here, just to check that the tree and Firelights were alive, still okay, before making his way to Jinx. 

Jacket in hand, making his way back to Jinx, he stops, the metal and wood under him groaning. He’s never seen her look so small before. It’s like she’s trying to fold in on herself, arms wrapped around her knees, nails indenting into her ripped pants. Even when they were kids, Jinx never appeared this small. She always had an air to her, a presence, though her bombs never worked properly. Here she is, without bombs, appearing smaller than that of Powder. 

Draping his spray-painted jacket over her, he smooths it out, making sure it catches her arms too, wholly warming her up. 

He leans on the wall beside the table, crossing his arms. Her eyes are downcast, almost appearing as an eerie darkish pink. 

“How about I get you some food? Will that make you feel better?” Ekko asks. 

Jinx doesn’t reply. 

Ekko’s shoulders slump and he leans out of his door, motioning for the nearest Firelight to bring something to eat. 

Bringing his attention to Jinx again, he cocks his head, trying to ascertain anything that is going through her head right now. He watches her barely move, barely blink. He thinks he sees her grip his jacket a bit tighter. 

A bowl of fruit arrives and Ekko thanks his fellow Firelight. 

As he places the food down on the table directly in front of Jinx, he asks, “Are you okay with being here? I know it’s not ideal but -” 

“Don’t have a choice, do I?” Jinx speaks, a low wry whisper. 

“Of course you have a choice, but… You promised me you’d -” 

“I know! Just-” Jinx retreats further into herself, the jacket almost fully consuming her entirely. 

Ekko’s brain stutters, and he puts himself in her shoes, blinking harshly, once, twice. 

“I’m sorry. I’ll give you time to think about it, about everything. Just… don’t do anything stupid, alright?” He tells her gently as he pulls up his own chair, picking up some of the old parts of scrap metal. 

“What, afraid I’m gonna pull a bomb on you?” She quips with a straight face, but Ekko doesn’t like it very much. 

He sighs tersely. “No. I’m afraid you’re gonna pull one on yourself. Again .” 

The way he says it isn’t harsh at all. In fact, he speaks so softly, so gently to her that it’s borderline pleading. But the words hurt. They cut deep and slither into the wound of it, sitting there, infecting the body and mind. 

Her mind steers along the twists and turns of her brain, thinking back. One of the first things she thought of was the bridge. She pulled the pin on both of them, though mostly herself. Ekko still got caught up in it, and she thought she had killed him. Thinking a bit more straight, along the lines of recent events, she remembers the bumps and design of the bomb she held, with Ekko right at her side again. Again. It’s always again. 

Again . 

He isn’t talking about the bridge, is he? 

Jinx’s vision narrows at the Z-Drive perched on Ekko’s hip. Time loop. It’s a time loop device, that’s what he said, meaning pulling that chain can turn back time, over and over and over… 

Again . 

But she never… Did she? 

Did she really kill herself in front of Ekko? She really did, didn’t she? 

Putting two and two together, she can feel the moment her mind crumbles just a little more. 

She pulled it before and he turned back time to save her. Had it been more than once? How many times did he do that for her? How many times did he suffer the blast? 

The now dried blood sticking to his brow, his skin. The layers of smoke and powder. The smudged white hourglass.  

She wonders what words he spoke to her then. But why? Why would he do all that? 

Lifting her heavy head, she meets his eyes. A smile underlined with consideration and tenderness forms at his lips. Eyes shining with nothing but patience and understanding. 

For you, anything. For you, everything.  

Every word Jinx ever remembers Ekko uttering to her crashes down and she hardly manages to hold back a dam of tears. Despite her best efforts, a tear still escapes and she quickly wipes it away. It doesn’t go unnoticed by Ekko, who is slightly knelt down at her side, hesitant on touching her at first, but then placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. 

Somehow it’s like Ekko’s acquired this ability to bring out her most vulnerable side, most vulnerable emotions the second he touches her with such kindness. The bold compassion of it all makes Jinx sob, pressing her face right into his stomach. His hands immediately find their way to her hair again, tangling in it, wanting to stain his gloves blue forever. 

There’s three words that fall from his mouth. 

“ I got you .” 

With the muffling of her own sobs and his words, she’s uncaring about the world around them. All she thinks is that Ekko has her, and is holding her right now. She’s okay. Safe. 

So, so safe in his arms. Everything fades into a home-like darkness. 

When Jinx opens her eyes, she finds she’s on a bed in a small room with Ekko’s jacket covering her like a blanket. Adrenaline kicks in for half of a second when she sees she’s all alone, causing her to shoot up. 

Her heart rate slows as Ekko walks in just then. He’s holding a plate this time, carrying different pieces of food, the heat of whatever it is emitting in a billow of hot air. 

He startles a bit at seeing her upright, before he relaxes. “Oh, you’re awake. Good. Uh, you… passed out earlier. Here, you didn’t get a chance to eat before.” 

He puts the plate down on the nightstand table. “I, uh, figured you might want to eat something warm instead, so I cooked up something. Hope you like it.” He nudges the plate closer to her, looking a bit shy, but determined. “I’m going to talk to some of the Firelights, so just wait here for a bit. I won’t be long or too far. Promise.” 

Ekko tosses her a wave over his shoulder, slipping out of the room. 

Jinx isn’t quite sure what it is he made, but the looks and smell alone make her eyes water and stomach turn happily. She picks one of the pieces up and stares at it. The texture is soft, with some sort of meat inside. She swallows uncomfortably, the smell enticing her still. 

As she looks at the food, she doesn’t know what she’s feeling. All she knows is that there’s a lot of it. So much of it. Overwhelming her, consuming her, balancing on the edge of destroying her. 

She thinks of Ekko and takes a bite. Its taste is somehow more pleasant than its scent, and warmth blooms in her chest, spreading to her stomach and face. Feeling less cold, she takes another bite. Then another, grabbing at the jacket tighter. 

It’s okay to eat. It’s okay to grieve. It’s okay to feel everything and nothing at the same time. 

She takes the last bite. Just know you are still loved. 

Jinx finally lets herself relax for the first time since Isha’s death. Though, a guilty feeling still nags at her. Everything feels less dull now that she’s surrounded by the comforting confines of Ekko’s graffitied jacket and the fullness of the food he made her. 

A few minutes pass, and Jinx hears footsteps make their way into the room. Ekko stands in the archway, holding a bottle of water whilst also carrying a rag over his shoulder. His eyes shift from her to the empty plate and Jinx can tell he’s stifling a proud grin. 

“Here.” He walks over to the side of the bed and presents the bottled water, unshouldering the Z-Drive to set it down underneath the bed. “You should drink something, too. I also thought I could clean you up a bit. Your face is… well your makeup is… If that’s all right?” 

By the looks of it, Jinx figures Ekko has forgotten about his own injuries, or has pushed them to the side, not worrying about himself right now. The blood is almost dried now, becoming a sticky, ruddy red shade attached to him, molding with his brows. 

Jinx scoops up the water, unscrews the cap and takes a sip. It settles her, aiding and dispersing the dryness in her throat. Ekko then takes a seat on the edge of the bed, watching her gulp a bit more down before putting the lid back on. He takes the rag which has already been dipped in some water, and darts his eyes unsubtly to her lips for a millisecond before honing in solely on the makeup trails her tears left. 

“Okay?” he asks, and she nods. 

His touch is gentle, holding the sides of her face with his forefinger and thumb. Unconsciously, he scoots closer to her, wiping in every direction to catch all the smears. 

At the proximity, Jinx can separate each and every scent that clings to Ekko’s clothes. Grime, grease, warm sunlight, a low hint of the food he cooked for her earlier. She remembers what he smelled like when he was just a boy. She knows he hasn’t changed much, since he still smells like home, like this beautiful memory she’s held onto for years. The smell is stronger, much like him now. Blood mixes in with the smell, permeating with what she likes the most. 

“You should fix yourself up, too.” Her eyes boldly fixate to his, which had only met hers once before moving elsewhere. 

“Oh, yeah.” He remembers, and moves to the other side of her face. “Forgot. I’ll do it later.” 

“Want me to?” Jinx suggests, and Ekko staggers in his movements. His eyes meet hers. 

“If you want to.” His voice struggles to sound stern, but it makes out like a whisper. 

“I want to.” 

There’s something aflutter beneath Jinx’s collarbone, and she wonders when she started to let people in more. She can’t pinpoint a moment in time when she began to. 

Ekko leans back and analyzes her face. He hums assertively. Noticing her hands, he motions, “Can I clean your hands, too?” 

She’s forgotten about her bloodied cuticles and nails. Without speaking, she just moves her hands closer to him. Taking her hand in his, full of kindness Jinx feels she doesn’t deserve, he wets her fingers, blood forming in a white and red watercolour on the rag. Drying them with the opposite side of the rag, he moves with skilled hands. Jinx can’t tell if he’s just doing it extremely well, or if it’s simply because her fingers still feel numb. Even though he doesn’t need to, he cleans her metal one as well, just as gentle and just as caring, as if she could feel the sensations like any other finger. 

Once he’s satisfied with the job he’s done, he hands her the towel, shuffling awkwardly to situate himself on the bed properly. Jinx tilts more water onto the rag that now has some black spots with tidbits of crimson on it. Ekko’s eyes are pointed down, feeling awkward about the non existent space between them. He swallows down his beating heart when Jinx is half seated down in his lap, dabbing softly at his wounds. 

The water is a welcome change, though it takes some pressure to clean out the stale blood sticking to his skin. Ekko clenches his jaw when she scrapes. Jinx keeps an eye on every reaction. Hardened jaw, dusted eyes, eyebrows shifting. 

The raw, stinging scent of blood reminds Jinx of Ekko standing there next to her, shaking legs and all, while she cradles the explosive. A tightening feeling grips at her throat. 

“How many times…?” Jinx’s voice breaks through the quietness suddenly, a low pleading, like she’s not sure if she had just spoken or not. If it was all fake, just in her head. 

“Times for what?” He drags a finger over his hand. 

“How many times… did I pull that pin? On my bomb?” 

Ekko’s eyes widen and he stops dead in his tracks, tilting his head up. “How do you—“ But of course. Of course she would know. She’s Jinx. She knows her mind better than any, how the cogs turn and break, and with the addition of Ekko’s explanation of the Z-Drive, it was probably only a matter of time. 

“Takes a genius to know.” Jinx cockily points at herself, lowering the towel. Her eyes betray her though, peering deeply into his, any sort of humour nowhere to be seen. “Ekko. Seriously. How many times did you have to go back just so you could save me? How many times? How many times… did I hurt you?” Nails dig into the soggy rag. 

Ekko sucks in a breath that sounds painful, filling his lungs to the brim. He goes to speak, instead deciding to run a hand over the back of his neck in an attempt to soothe. The act does nothing as his face drops to a level of pain. He blinks—once, twice—and suddenly he’s back there, remembering and experiencing each explosion again in real time, over and over and over, flashes of blue light and smoke flooding his eyes and nose. 

The sensations were borderline unbearable, and during some loops, all he could do was cough, choking on useless words and rubbing at the smog in his eyes and gunpowder residue piling on his clothes. She doesn’t remember any of it, except the final one, the only success. 

He remembers it all. Counting the seconds. The unsteadiness in his footing. Her body disappearing in a flash before his eyes. 

One, two—Gah! Too late! 

The underside of his fingers begins to throb wildly as he roughly pulls the string again, each time more and more desperate. The friction of the glove against skin and chain burns and it burns furiously. 

The unforgiving air claws at his lungs, under his skin, inside his wounds. 

His pain is nothing. 

Focus on her! 

One, two, three—No! 

He was barely able to tug on the chain again in time. 

Faster! React faster! Don’t tell me you’re tired yet? How do you think she feels?! She’s the one blowing herself up and you don’t even know WHY yet! 

He needs to find his voice. His voice. He needs to reach her. But what is he supposed to say? Nothing he’s said so far has stopped her. Figure something out! Say something! Don’t just sit down! 

What expression does she have? 

Does she even know who you are? 

Think! What is she going through? 

How can you be known as the boy saviour if you can’t even save one person?! 

What kind of saviour can’t save anyone? 

You’re no saviour! You’re just a BOY!

Relief is short lived when he loops time again, shattering in an instant once more as he realizes Jinx is still holding onto the same bomb that’s already killed her many times. But she doesn’t know that. How could she? She’s pulling at the wrong string. 

His chest burns. The muscles in his thighs tighten. He doesn’t even want to imagine what his face looks like right now while his lips spill with pleads. Mind seeking for words that are never right. 

Then, there’s an emotion. It’s shifting inside of him, gurgling and growling like a monstrous beast. It almost feels like rage, this big ball of fury. It’s not, though. What can it be? 

Seconds pass. 

Seconds fly. 

Seconds explode into pieces. 

The warbling of the Z-Drive haunts him, ricocheting in his head like bullets. A raw, burning sensation shoots through his fingers. 

He forces his eyes open, forces his hands to pull the string again. Time. So much time. Then so little of it. Where did it all go? What happened to it all? They were just kids a minute ago. Where did those kids in his memories go? They didn’t leave. They never left. 

He attempts to steel his heart. He’s not sure if it works. 

Jinx. Jinx. Focus on Jinx. That’s her name now. Don’t look at the bomb. Forget the pain. Forget the world. Just look at her. Oh… her face is melting with misery. Her makeup undone by tears. Where did the madness in her eyes go? It’s gone. Everything is fading again… 

With a dull, searing burn, he opens his eyes for what feels like the first time. 

Determination. 

Determination fills his body. The boy saviour takes a step forward, stifling the unending cough, uncaring about his eyes pleading to brush away the dust. 

A number swirls in his head. Thirty-four. 

He opens his mouth and says — 

His breath evens out, a newborn calmness settling in his chest. The memory is pushed to the back of his mind, buried, but never forgotten. 

“Thirty-four times.” No doubt in his voice. He’s surprised, with everything destructive beating against the inside of his skull, that his voice didn’t sound scared. Because he was. He still is.  

A tremble in his hand is quickly subdued by his other hand. He crushes the anxiety in his palm, and there’s a red-hot unpleasant blooming sensation that runs through him. 

He wants to know what Jinx’s face looks like right now, though the effort of pulling his head up seems much too mighty. So he defies it. Managing the task, his eyes connect with hers, and he’s startled at how many hurt looks brush right past Jinx’s face. A subtle quiver in her lips, eyes beginning to fill with too many brimming feelings, and the vein in her neck poking out, signaling her attempt at blocking out her sobs. 

“That doesn’t matter though,” Ekko is quick to point out, a determined but comforting edge creeping into his tone. “Doesn’t matter how many times I went back. What matters… is that I saved you. I’d do it a thousand times over. A million times, to save you. Because you’re worth saving, Jinx. This place is worth saving. Everyone is worth saving. Including you - always including you. Even if you don’t believe it. I’ll tell you every day until you believe it if I have to.” 

If anyone ever asks what kind of person Ekko is, Jinx would remember this conversation. The boy who will and did defy time itself to save the ones he loves. Perseverance, pushing past his heartbreak and pain, muddled mind and all, to keep going, keep witnessing it all. 

Jinx’s eyes flutter, inhaling a breath a bit too fast, and Ekko recognizes it as her trying to stifle her tears, exactly like she did when she was a kid. 

“Hey, it’s okay to cry. I’m here for you,” he assures her, flashing a tender smile, watered down blood sliding down the side of his face. “Crying’s good.” 

In an instant, she puts all her weight on him, towel tossed to the side, her entire frame crumpling against him, shoulders shaking, tears flowing freely for what feels like the thousandth time today. He rubs at her back soothingly, wrapping his arms tight around her. He doesn’t focus on his heart beating harshly against his ribs. He doesn’t know Jinx can hear it too, mixed in with her cries. 

“ You’re good .” A firm, comforting whisper ghosts past Jinx’s ear, and it causes her to cry harder. 

After many long passing moments, Ekko feels Jinx fall limp, breaths evening out, no longer in erratic tandem. There’s a sense of accomplishment that burrows within himself, along with sadness. He’s never seen Jinx like this, so broken, so on the edge of giving up. It’s different from the bridge. He doesn’t want a repeat of either. 

Right now, he feels safe. He hopes she does too. Or at least will feel so, in time. 

It seems Jinx plans to make good on the promise she made, with it going unsaid. When Ekko wakes the next day without Jinx at his side, upon walking into the main area, he finds her already sitting at the table, fiddling with the many gadgets Ekko owns. She takes an interest in the many blueprint of ideas he wrote, watching her make her own versions of it. 

He walks back into the bedroom, shouldering the Z-Drive, and then bringing his jacket over to Jinx again. She gives him a side glance, something that is both awkward but thankful. He recognizes it and accepts it without a word, before turning away so she doesn’t notice him blushing. 

“Did you eat yet?” Ekko asks, busying himself with finding the paint to redo his hourglass makeup. 

Jinx shakes her head, burying her face in the stacks of paper, idly piecing together metal parts. “Don’t need to. I’m fine.” 

He ignores that half-assed excuse. “I’ll have Scar bring something.” 

As he goes to leave, there’s a look that flits over Jinx’s face. She opens her mouth, then closes it. Then she opens it once again, her voice low. 

“Can you… make me something again? Like you did before?” 

Ekko’s entire body beams, happy sparks jolting across the length of his spine. So she did like it! He knows he’s not that crazy of a cook, but at least he knows he can make something warm and mostly tasty. Something that he knows Jinx will like. 

“Yeah. Yeah, of course.” 

His mind is already racing to put together a meal warm and good enough for Jinx to enjoy. 

That day, the two don’t talk much besides that, exchanging little words, but slowly getting into a groove of sharing ideas, and tinkering with different parts and pieces, building new structures to aid them in the fight. 

From that day forward, Jinx wouldn’t eat anything unless Ekko was the one that made it. 

On day four, week one, Ekko finds Jinx hunched over in exhaustion at his desk. Slowly, she’s gotten more comfortable with sleeping around him, along with sleep coming a little easier for her. 

For what is now the third day in a row, he covers her with his jacket. He takes a look at what she’s been doing over on the desk, and it resembles hoverboard blueprints that Ekko’s kept all these years. Maybe she wants to modify them? Add something to it? 

Ekko pats the Z-Drive attached to his hip as he walks out into the Firelight base, striking up conversations with them all. They ask about Jinx, how he’s been, what his plan is. Even as his thoughts struggle to piece themselves together, he puts on a brave face, and he says he’s got everything under control, like always. 

Nearing the end of the first week, Ekko wakes to something feeling off. It’s too quiet. Nowadays with Jinx around and feeling a bit better, quiet was becoming rare. To Ekko, this meant one thing. Jinx isn’t here. He jolts, bolting past all the unorganized papers and out into the base. Nowhere to be seen. With his heart in his throat, he didn’t even think of strapping the Z-Drive on, eyes already darting every which way to spot that head of azure.

Every passing moment that he doesn’t see her causes another layer of worry and dread to overtake him. He debates asking nearby Firelights if they’ve seen her, but they’re already skeptical of her, and he even told them many times to trust him. He gasps and clenches his teeth to choke down the mountain of anxiety creeping over him. 

That’s when he spots her. Fresh from the base entrance, holding a cardboard box full of items. 

“Jinx!” he calls out, breathless, and her neck swivels to the direction of her name being called. 

He all but sprints up to her, gulping down his relief. 

“Sheesh, I only went to get some stuff from my place. You miss me that much?” she smirks at him, confusion and worry ghosting past her face for split second intervals. 

Ekko’s glad Jinx has started to get more of her personality back, old self slipping through, but, boy, he forgot just how much she makes him worry. How unpredictable she can be sometimes. 

“Don’t… don’t do that. I thought you -” 

“I what? Left you? You dummy, where else would I go?” Jinx says to him, and it’s supposed to sound like a joke, but it ends with her trailing off, mumbling the words softly. 

“Just wake me up next time? Or tell me. Don’t disappear like that again. Please.” 

“Aye aye, ‘o great Firelight leader.” She mocks a salute, balancing the box with one hand. “Now help me carry this.” 

Jinx shoves the box chock full of miscellaneous items, gears, and other tinkerer’s tools into his hands before sauntering off. 

He staggers, standing there with his mouth slightly agape, now holding the box that is filled to the brim. 

“We got work to do! Hurry it up!” She motions for him to follow her already.  

For a second, in the blink of an eye, Ekko gets a glimpse of Powder. He blinks again and she’s gone. He watches her move down and around the place with a light pep in her step. He shakes his head, grumbling to himself, trying to ignore the confused looks from hovering Firelights. 

Later, as they work, Ekko hounds her, a mix of frustration and worry coursing his veins.  

“Man, how did you even remember the correct path in the sewers? Out and in?” he asks with astonishment and concern, running a hand past his locks. 

“What can I say? I’m awesome,” she boldly brags, chewing absently on the pen she brought from her hideout. The pen then breaks and ink spills everywhere, bursting blue all across her lips. Turning to Ekko, who’s looming over her with an unamused expression, she sticks out her ink-covered tongue. 

“Clearly,” Ekko deadpans, grabbing a nearby towel, throwing it at her face. 

Deep down, though, he’s beyond ecstatic that she’s feeling herself more and more by the day. He takes every smile and every joke he can get, and he takes it with open arms. 

By the end of the first week, the two geniuses have gotten more comfortable around each other’s presence. Knowing that the other is going to be there when they wake, and falling asleep with one another at their side. Days pass, and Ekko’s heart still strains when she decides to sleep near him, full body against his. 

Indiscreetly, he tosses a few glances her way. How her fingers move when she uses different tools. How she sways from side-to-side when she’s in a good mood. All of it causes Ekko to fall for her impossibly more. 

Ekko doesn’t always catch Jinx looking at him when his back is turned to her. But when he does, he remembers. He doesn’t let her forget. 

The Firelights have gotten used to Jinx moving about the place. Ekko asked Jinx to attempt to converse with them a bit, and there was a couple she was able to hold a somewhat decent conversation with, though their faces didn’t try to mask their feelings about her at all. Most just gave her a word at best. 

Ekko’s mostly taken a liking to the board on the side of his wall, covering it with numerous specific calculations of pieces they plan to build. Jinx has already curated a few, and she’s always surprising him at how fast she’s able to create something. The positions they take remind him of his time with Powder. Putting alternate universe geniuses side-by-side proves that there isn’t that much of a difference between them. 

During the midst of week two, Jinx desperately needed comforting sometime during the night, and Ekko was there to provide, like always. Ekko came to the realization that Jinx liked his jacket, though she tried to make it not obvious. It wasn’t hard at all to figure out when he found her one night snuggling with it, bathing in the scent of it, unabashed. 

By now, though, Jinx knew she could rely on him when it came to needing comforting. That he wouldn’t ever disappear on her. They laid together, his arms wrapped around her as her breathing slowed. It’s moments like these, bouts of deep vulnerability that allow the two to share the times of their past, what hurt them, and what they’ve gone through. Push aside all the harm they’ve caused one another, and simply be in each other’s arms. She quickly became his favourite blanket, too, and he found it increasingly hard to sleep without her accompanying the space next to him. Her, coddled and buried within his heavy weighted jacket, swung over his entire body. 

As an off-hand comment, Ekko reveals to Jinx the next day that in the alternate universe, he had a piercing in his ear. He confesses to thinking of getting one, just to remember the times he had then. At the mention of the alternate universe, Jinx’s expression becomes cloudy, unrecognizable. Even as he’s told her practically everything about it, his own thoughts too, she still gets this odd look. Almost like she knows he’s keeping something from her. 

With Jinx’s help, they create the metallic loop that Ekko wanted. A cool sheen with brightened alloy, just big enough to slip around one’s finger. 

She seats him in the chair and takes out a makeshift ear piercing gun and spins it around with a finger. 

“You ready?” she asks with an excited grin, waving the tool around. 

He rubs his thighs, a layer of nervousness shaking him. “Yeah. Just do it quickly.” 

“Here… we… go…” She drawls, sticking out her tongue, leaning closer and closer. 

Sucking in a breath and closing his eyes, Ekko waits for the pain to hit. Hot breath tickles his neck and his tenses further, shutting his eyes tighter. 

There’s a still quietness that hovers in the air. Ekko waits, furrowing his brow, wondering what’s taking Jinx so long. He opens his eyes. 

“What’s going o—OW!” Pain flares through his earlobe and he jumps, clenching his teeth. “Jinx?!” 

“Haha!” she laughs, swiping the piercing that Ekko told her he wanted from the table. “Big baby. You’re the one who wanted it. Newsflash, they hurt!” Jinx slips it through his ear and admires it. 

“Yeah, but you took longer than I thought. Thought you were just gonna go for it.” He rubs sympathetically at his sensitive ear, feeling around. 

Jinx’s gaze slowly disconnects from Ekko, moving herself away from him. She doesn’t have the courage to tell him that she got distracted by him. Just a bit. 

Only a bit. 

That very same night, the slow regret Ekko felt building up over the past couple weeks ends up spilling out. The one part of the alternate universe he didn’t tell her about. 

It came as a surprise to both parties. 

“I kissed her,” Ekko confides in Jinx. They’re chest-to-chest, face-to-face with one another in bed, with Jinx’s breath hitting him in his face, whispering to him, ghosting past his ears, begging to know all of his secrets. “Powder. Or she kissed me. We kissed each other after the dance, but I didn’t tell you. Sorry.” 

Jinx blinks at him. Ekko’s jacket is tangled up in their legs, and she’s gripping onto the jacket sleeve, holding it up under her nose. The two had gotten used to being next to one another, especially with their intertwined legs mingling in the bed as they slept. 

Jinx looks at him with these expecting eyes, more full moon shaped than Powder’s and it causes words to continue tumbling out between his teeth. 

“We were together there. We had probably kissed hundreds of times before because I’m one hundred percent sure we were dating, but it was never me that kissed her. It was always her Ekko. Does that make sense? Me, I only kissed her once. That one time. She was my first kiss. Probably in that universe too.” 

Jinx’s eyes search his. Guilt mixes in with his irises and his eyes break away, casting a downward look. Everything about this conversation screams intimate and awkward and full of tension, but there’s an invisible weight that’s been lifted. 

“Why…” Words struggle to form on Jinx’s tongue. “Why are you telling me this? You didn’t have to. Could’ve kept it to yourself, and I would’ve never known,” she tells him, puffs of air wafting against the side of his face. 

“Are you mad at me?” he suddenly asks, ignoring her question. 

The pause between leads Ekko to believe that she is. But Jinx shakes her head. 

“No,” she then says to him, and it sounds genuine. “I know that… it must’ve been hard to leave all that behind. To have to come back to a place like this, so different from whatever that world was. Can’t blame you for enjoying it, I guess. I’m just glad that… you had enough of a reason to come back here.” 

“I would’ve always come back,” Ekko tells her, sternly and truthfully. “All the people I love are here.” As he speaks, he looks directly into Jinx’s eyes. He swears Jinx’s eyes burn a brighter pink when he gazes into them. 

“But, to answer what you said before,” he pauses, gathering his thoughts. “I guess, maybe, it’s because… I don’t want to make you feel like you have to be like that. Powder had a few differences from you, but that didn’t mean you two are completely different people. You’re still… her. And if she can be good in that universe, then so can you. I’m saying that you don’t ever have to change just for me or that much for us to ever be close friends again. You’re Jinx and Jinx is who you’ll always be, and I know that now. I just don’t want anything bad to ever happen to you again. To… us.” 

Jinx studies his face. Open and exposed, willing to share all of this with her. She sees he feels beyond horrible for keeping all of this from her. Her lips part, unable to keep in her own emotions, everything and anything that is clawing its way up. 

“Here’s to the new us, then.” 

And before Ekko can even process what she means by that, Jinx surges forward and captures his lips in hers. Ekko senses a second of hesitancy when she feels he’s not kissing back immediately, but as the initial shock wears off, he’s kissing her back fearlessly, hands mixing in with luscious hair. 

Ekko tries to think back to a time where he never felt love for Jinx. He doesn’t find it. He thinks back to the time where he pleaded at night for them to just be friends again. He thinks about her. He thinks about nothing at all at this moment. He thinks this is all they can be as of now. He thinks he’s okay with that. 

They part, heady and hot breath licking at each other’s face. Ekko busts out into what must be the biggest grin he’s been able to muster in years. Jinx follows, and collapses in his chest, giggling as well. In that moment in time, they’re goofy kids again, troubled and surrounded by the presence of the other. 

He takes her red, smiling face, his entire world, in his palms. His cheeks burn even more, and kisses her again. That night, they sleep without nightmares, without panic about tomorrow. All that matters is how tight they’re holding each other. 

Nearing the end of the second week, the day after they shared their first kiss, Jinx and Ekko break away from the Firelight base to head back to Jinx’s place, this time because Jinx suggests it and brings Ekko along to look for useful pieces of sorted scrap and whatnot. Shoulders touching, bouncing thoughts and emotions off of each other, they’re greeted by the coppery taste in the air, stale, without circulation. 

While Ekko goes to search Jinx’s table, he sees her brush past to go kneel down by this little tent that he hadn’t really taken note of when he was last here.

“Still can’t believe you became a symbol while I was gone. The hell happened?” Ekko discards some items from the table and goes to kneel down next to Jinx. She’s thumbing through blankets, toys, things that look like they belong to a child. 

“Well,” Jinx turns a stuffed animal over in her hands. “Less of a symbol and more of a… urban legend. Yeah, a myth! But you know who was a better symbol than me? Isha. That kid was fearless. Knew how to take a punch, too. Great cuddle buddy. Never spoke a word, but, wow, she was able to say so much. Loved that kid.” 

Ekko blinks, and he tries to piece together what Jinx is talking about. He’s sure she’s never spoken about this kid before. He would’ve remembered Jinx mentioning a kid she knew. 

“Who’s Isha?” Ekko asks, wishing he didn’t have to while he witnesses Jinx’s face falling. 

She’s solemn, unusually quiet, wrestling with her inner turmoil. A low-like tone coats her voice and it sounds nostalgic and yearning for a time that has already passed. 

“When you were gone, I met someone. This kid, Isha.” Just saying her name already feels like a tiny weight lifted off of her. That name, full of memories, and yet Jinx is thinking of the only bad one right now. 

“She was perfect,” Jinx adds, picking up a doll that Isha liked to play around with. She smiles as a good memory rushes to her. “Definitely a way better symbol than I was. She… she wanted to be exactly like me, Ekko. Why would she want to be like me? Had me dye her hair to be like mine, have clothes like me, made me paint on my tattoos on her. Never fully understood that kid. But it’s hard to imagine that anyone would ever look up to me, let alone a kid. She seemed to really think that I-I was good. I guess. Something like that.” 

“She was right.” Ekko cups the side of Jinx’s face with his hand, and she leans into his touch without a second thought. “You loved her, and it’s obvious she loved you, too.”  

“I couldn’t save her.” Devastation rips into Jinx, like she’s reliving that awful sight over and over again. 

“Sounds to me like you already did. When you found her, took her in, that was you saving her. And in the only way she knew how, she repaid the favour.” 

“She deserved to grow up, Ekko.” 

“I know.” He moves her to the side to face him and he presses his forehead to hers, allowing them to press their foreheads affectionately against each other. “They all do. So let’s keep fighting for that, okay? For Isha, too.”

Jinx hums and nods, staying in that position for a few blissful seconds before wiping away at threatening tears. She hooks Isha’s favourite toy onto her belt, giving it a secure little pat. 

After they conversed a bit more about Isha, with Ekko wanting to learn more about Jinx’s time with her, what she looked like, he starts to look around, eyeballing the place, as an idea enters his head. 

“This place is a fan, right?” he asks, inspecting the intricacies of the metal layers, looking down into the depths of it. 

“Mmm, yeah?” Jinx takes another thing from inside the tent and places it into the box. 

“Do you think it’s detachable?” 

“With some time and tinkering, sure. Why…? Wait.” Her head pops up, a grin splitting across Jinx’s face and she bounces on the balls of her feet. “You mean…?” She makes a fast motion with her hands. 

Ekko smiles at her, tilting his head. “Yeah.” 

“Oh, wow. That’s the first good idea you’ve had yet!” 

“I think I deserve more credit than that.” Ekko, amused, purses his lips, crossing his arms. 

For the final week, they decide that that will be their entire project. With already completing all the other tasks they had, things like weapons or modifications, they focus on how to maneuver Jinx’s hideout. 

The fan, rusted base and all, they attempt to make it so it can get to where they need to go along with being able to hover over the battlefield, holding people on its surface as well. Ekko recruits the help of a large group of Firelights, including Scar, and he shows them the basics of all of it, with Jinx’s explanations too. 

The Firelights keep an open mind around Jinx, and now that they’ve seen her help them and continue to do good, they’ve gotten to trust her a bit, and believe that she’s truly willing to help them out, at least becoming decent allies in the process. 

They may not ever be able to forgive her for what she’s done to them, but Jinx will continue to try anyway. Forgiveness is not at the forefront of her mind to begin with, however, it’s more or less about protecting the innocent, those who deserve to grow up and keeping their home safe. Wanting a world of peace, of no more sorrow or needless death. 

She learned all that from the best boy she knows. 

Jinx lets them go all out in decorating it, letting everybody who feasts their eyes upon this machinery know who helped make this bad boy, and the friendships that were forged in the making of it. 

After the Firelights leave, and the paint buckets are strewn about, Jinx gets a rather mischievous idea and tosses flecks of paint in Ekko’s direction. He watches in surprise as small dots seep and scatter on his clothes. 

“Jinx!” Ekko frowns, wiping at some of the paint that got on his face. He groans, realization kicking in that he’ll have to redo his face paint. 

“Oh, don’t worry! I’ll find new clothes for us to wear!” She simply giggles, and throws more paint at him. Ekko sighs, head shaking, and takes up some of his own paint, balling it up in his hands. 

Paint splatters, mix matched dots of colour hitting the floor. The paint is wedged underneath dirtied shoes as Ekko and Jinx walk over it, smearing colour all over each other, laughter ensuing. It gets on their pants, marking them, on their arms and sides. 

Flicking colour in the air, maneuvering around one another, it resembles something like a dance. Hands reaching for shoulders, arms, necks, backs, any piece of each other at all. Sometimes Jinx swivels away effortlessly, though it’s not long before a green handprint is pressed to her back, and she sees Ekko’s forearm drizzling with the neon green and a tiny smirk on his face. 

If any onlookers were here, this would look strange, sporadic movements with paint splashing against arms, legs, and shoulders. To them, it’s anything but. At this very moment, they’re dancing. Their own dance, just for them. 

They admire each other, colourful and grinning, currently blissfully unaware of the heartache that soon awaits them. 

Eventually, the paint on both Ekko and Jinx’s hands are no good anymore, now sticking to their skin, some sluggishly making its way to sit under their fingernails. It sits there for days until the time has come for the final fight. 

They’ve added weaponry, gadgets, all sorts of mementos to the metallic fan, with Jinx adding some specific bits to nod at Isha, which only she and Ekko understand. They’ve also detached it, so when the time is right, they can make it fly wherever they need it to. 

A few hours before Ekko alerts the Firelights to call to arms, Jinx makes good on her word to procure new outfits for both her and Ekko. While Ekko had insisted he didn’t need a new outfit to wear, Jinx insisted even more that he change things up. The minute he goes to argue that he will not be wearing the clothes Jinx got for him, the look she gives shatters that argument, and he’s slipping on the top before Jinx is even thinking of putting on her newfound ensemble alongside him. 

The wind blows against open skin, and Ekko prods at his piercing, trying not to blush at the way Jinx is gazing at him. He touches up his face paint, making sure the hourglass has not smudged. 

Jinx is finding herself glancing over at him more often, thinking back on the feeling of what his lips felt like on hers. He catches her eye, and he gives her a nod, faraway eyes taking note of her lips too. 

When they finished dressing, Jinx pressed a pair of scissors against Ekko’s chest. Before Ekko knows it, he’s standing behind her while she sits in the chair in front of him. 

“You want me to cut your hair for you?” He scratches at his head, eyes shifting from the tool in his hand to Jinx. 

“Come on, boy wonder, I know you have at least some makeup skills,” Jinx emphasizes with a cheeky smile, glancing behind, referencing the newly applied paint on Ekko’s face. 

“Well, yeah,” he says, shrugging. “It’s basically another form of art. But there are times I get one of the Firelights to do it. Though, I just do it myself mostly.” 

“So, hair shouldn’t be that hard for you, then.” 

“Hey, I’m more of an artist, not a hair expert.” 

“But isn’t hair just ‘another form of art’?” Jinx counters with a teasing tone. 

Ekko’s heart skips a beat, fighting a blush, huffing a laugh of his own.“...Damn, yeah, yeah. I guess so. Hate when you’re right.” He shakes his head and smiles goofily. 

“Hah!” 

“Doesn’t mean I’m gonna be good at it, though,” he warns her, trying to figure out where exactly to start. 

“Promise you, it can’t get any worse.” As she speaks, the smile slides from her face, fading like a ghost’s body, watching it happen in real time through the mirror. 

The bags under her eyes still linger even though she’s gotten a handful of restful nights worth of sleep and eaten decent meals. 

“Plus, I…” Jinx lets out a deep sigh, and Ekko sees her shoulders sag heavily, releasing copious amounts of tension. “I trust you.” 

It’s spoken with such immense vulnerability that Ekko is truly taken aback. This is what he’s wanted for so long. Just to be here again, beside one another, trusting one another. The feeling burrows into Ekko’s heart and memories, and it finds the crevice of old memories with Powder, back when they were children. 

He lets himself trust her completely as well. Be vulnerable with her. Ekko’s feet shift his weight. 

Ekko looks at the back of her hair, tracing each blue strand with his eyes, memorizing it. It seems it’s all he ever wants to do these days, in this universe and whatever comes after it. Live in a moment, and hope it never passes. But no amount of hope can bring that moment back, specifically the experience of living in it for the first time. He would always know, even if the other didn’t. 

As he takes the scissors in between his index and thumb, preparing for the first snip, a thought enters his mind: 

I love you. 

It’s not surprising to hear. He’s gotten accustomed to hearing it practically on repeat, whenever she’s around, whenever she’s particularly close to him. 

I love you so much it consumes me. When I look at myself, I wonder… Am I even me anymore? 

He doesn’t voice any of these thoughts out loud. He never does. He wonders what will happen if he does say those three words. He guesses he would never know. 

Swallowing, Ekko cuts, slicing through the azure, watching it soar like a feather in the wind before finding its resting place on the floor. The clipping sound breaks that heavy silence, and Ekko hears Jinx let out a deep, relieving breath, like her hair is the very thing that is weighing down her entire body. 

When he’s done, he takes a couple steps back to admire his somewhat good handiwork. 

“How is it? Did I do alright?” Ekko asks, watching her reaction through the reflection of the mirror. Her gaze is soft, eyes running over the dip between long and short, remembering the new and old. 

She smiles, and it’s like she knows Ekko loves that tooth gap with how much she’s shown it off these past weeks. 

Her voice drops an octave and it makes his heart skip a beat. “You did perfect, Ekko.” 

She grins wide again. “Now all that’s left is some pizzazz!” 

“Pizzazz…?” 

“There’s a ton of leftover dye and paint here…” Jinx rummages through one of the many boxes stacked near the desk with more scattered about the place. A hand with a bottle of purple dye shoots up. “Aha! Got it.” 

She lathers the colourant all over her hands, lacing her fingers through the forefront of her hair, the dye creeping into the metal cracks of her middle finger. 

“Hm. Interesting look,” Ekko hums as she moves past strand after long strand. “I like it.” 

“Knew you would. Now, your turn!” She presents her flat hands, showcasing all the wet dye in front of his face. 

“You are not touching my hair with dye.” He crosses his arms, narrowing his eyes at her. 

“Aww, why not? It’ll look nice!” Jinx jumps forward to bring her hand to his head, and Ekko steps back. 

Ekko’s taking continuous steps back, arms up in defense, pushing away her attempts at touching his hair. She’s laughing, and it causes him to laugh as well. He feels the Z-Drive at his side wobble before he comes to the realization that he’s tripped, and now on his back and behind. Luckily, the Z-Drive’s container is solid and it thuds unceremoniously against Ekko’s arm, him barely able to wrap an arm around it, cushioning the impact. 

He grumbles, making sure his body and the Z-Drive is intact. Looking up, he’s gazing up at Jinx, whose shimmering eyes are casted downwards to him on the ground, watching him writhe a bit, as the dye on her hands starts to become sticky and uncomfortable. She’s smiling expectantly. 

“No dye.” Ekko points up at her sternly. Jinx groans dramatically with her whole body, arms flailing.  

“How else are we going t—” Jinx cuts herself off as an idea strikes her, suddenly moving back over to the buckets of leftover paint. With two cans in each hand, she brings them over to Ekko, who is still splayed out on the metal ground. Tins full of paint sit beside them in bouts of blue, green, pink, and yellow. 

“Paint,” Ekko deadpans, sighing, accepting it. “Not on my hair.” He moves the Z-Drive to the side so it won’t get in the way, but still in arms length.

“Fine, fine. I’ll go first.” Jinx brightens, dipping the entirety of her hands in two separate buckets. One hand drips with pink, the other with blue. 

Jinx makes her way, kneeling down to him, paint oozing off of her nails, and she gets up close to him. Shifting, sparing him a short glimpse, she moves over his legs. She’s straddling him now, and there’s not a single word that comes out of their mouths during all of this. Every word is spoken through their eyes, fleeting hand gestures and touches, admiring the other’s canvas like a piece of art, plastering each other’s soul on the other’s body. 

Upon realizing the position, Ekko fights back the blush that threatens to overtake his face. Instead, he looks downward, where Jinx is now marking his chest with a bright pink neon ‘X’. Furrowing his brow, he looks up at Jinx, who’s already moving on to a different part of his body. Nails trickle down to his exposed abdomen, causing Ekko’s breath to hitch, as Jinx spreads colour around there. The cold air blends in with the lukewarm paint sensation, fading with the red-hot touch of Jinx, fingers dragging, creating doodles and drawing art on Ekko like he’s her very own muse. 

As Jinx finishes up with the front of his body, she motions for him to sit up. He does, and she gets behind him, lathering more paint on her hands. He has no idea what she’s writing. All he can focus on is the care that goes into the small scribbles that glide along his back. 

Jinx then moves back to his front, seating herself between his widespread legs, focusing on one pant leg at a time. 

Ekko wishes he could capture this moment in time forever. A photograph, just for him to hang up above his bed, in his mind forever. He hasn’t realized how much he’s truly cherished the past few weeks. Time truly runs right past him, even as he holds it in his very palm. 

Jinx springs to her feet, admiring the job she’s done with gleaming eyes. “All done! Now it’s your turn to paint me!”  

Jinx pushes the buckets in Ekko’s direction, some spilling out of the sides. Flopping unceremoniously to the floor, Jinx waits in anticipation. 

Ekko goes to speak, but ultimately, he’s not really sure what to say. They’re about to go to war, and here they are, painting the bodies of one another. Jinx is grinning, happily waiting for him, while her heavy-plated gun sits not that far from them. His hoverboard and other tools they plan to bring with to war are just sitting there. Destruction awaits them a few hours from now. And yet, they’re smiling. 

The destruction is not now. Now, they’re happy. Right now, they’re having fun and painting one another’s bodies. Right now, he’s making a memorial of this memory in his heart, to keep it close at all times, putting it right next to that special time with Powder.

As he kneels close to Jinx, his own hands now covered in paint, he focuses solely on the thought of her. He takes a quick look at his own body, as if to get an idea of what to paint on Jinx. Ekko drives his fingers along the side of Jinx’s body, producing a large blue star. The blue of Jinx’s tattoos pale when compared to the brightness of the blue neon, standing out proudly and boldly. 

He can see Jinx stifling a smile when he goes extra slowly to make sure the right lines connect properly. There’s a slight blush on her face as well. She tries to smirk, but it’s a weak little thing, and it falters as her eyes catch a glimpse or four of his lips that are so, so close to hers when he’s now writing his own pink ‘X’ on her chest. He takes his time with it, creating it bold and big, so he can always find his way back home to her. 

Adding more fresh paint to his hands, he continues marking her everywhere. Little symbols that signify their time together, marks that stand out. The hourglass, a piece of him. X’s running up and down her tattooed arm. Dragging paint along the side of her legs just to feel her close to him. Tally marks to signal how many times he’s kissed her within these past few days. An infinity symbol to signify how many times he’s wanted to kiss her. 

“There. Just about done…” he murmurs, dipping his thumb down and around, her clothes accepting the new colours. 

“Woah. I think you put more on me than I put on you!” She laughs in awe of all the colour on her clothes and body. “Looks good.” 

“Oh, wait.” He grazes his thumbs on his pants, taking off the excess paint before sticking them in the pink paint tin. He shuffles himself closer to her, their chests touching, warm breaths intermingling, legs between the others. 

He slides his thumbs across her face, right under her eyes. Pink neon lines spread along her face and pale red shimmer infused eyes stare back at him. A blush courses across his face, now acutely aware of how close they are, how intimate the setting feels. He pushes past it, just to get the chance to stare at her features just a little longer. 

“Ready?” Ekko asks, swallowing, and Jinx hums in affirmation. He holds out his hand to her, lifting her from her feet. She goes to set up Pow-Pow, and he takes his hoverboard in his hand. 

As the time slowly ticks on, the inevitable fight inching closer and closer, Ekko’s overcome with worry and vulnerability. He clutches at the confines of his soul, holding it near and dear to his heart. He’s looking over at Jinx and his mind is pleading for infinitely more time. If not that, then just a little bit more. Just a second more. 

Walking up to her, Ekko calls Jinx’s name, Z-Drive hitting him in his side. 

She turns to face him, while in the midst of pulling up her newly sewn together hood over her head. 

He kisses her. 

One . 

Two. 

Three. 

Four.

They lock lips for four whole seconds before parting, breathing gently against the other's lips. If there was just a bit more time, any time in the world, he would kiss her again and again, forever. For longer than just four seconds. 

But he doesn’t kiss her for long. It wouldn’t ever be the same as the first time. He thinks about just touching their foreheads together for just a second longer, like they had done all those previous nights before. Ekko finds that he’s unknowingly gotten greedier, now that he’s swimming in this feeling, this happiness, wanting more of it. More kisses, more time, more love. He wants to be her; his favourite blanket, with her heartbeat right next to his. 

One. Now the Firelights are here now with their very own hoverboards. It feels like the rope that’s tying them together is going to snap at any given moment. 

Two. How time can be so merciless when you find you’ve finally run out of it. 

Three . He dreams and dreams, and nothing has ever hurt more. 

Four . Fingers drift along the chain of the Z-Drive. Nothing happens but the passage of time. Heavy, methodical, unable to wait for anybody. 

Sucking in a deep breath, he calms himself. Shoulder to shoulder with her he gives her a promising smile, her returning it, both of their lips still running hot, heads mingling with emotion.  

The violet in her eyes and the neon pink paint on her face glitters as the light hits her face from above, the fan beginning moving with a loud creak. 

Ekko tightens his grip on the Z-Drive. 

“You got me, Ekko?” This time, the final time, it’s Jinx that offers a hand to him, not to lift him up or anything of the sort. Just to hold, to reassure, just to know that he’s there, that they’ve got each other. 

On the other hand, he never tires of hearing his name drop from her lips. Like tantalizing fruit, everblooming flowers, a breath of fresh air. A bold, unforgettable memory forms every time she utters it. Every time, without fail, it’s like he’s hearing her say it for the first time. 

“I got you, Jinx,” he says, name practically etching itself on his lips, and he takes her hand, never to let go. 

I loved you in this universe first. 

And loved you in that universe too. 

But I will always love you the most. 

Only you. 

Only you.