Chapter 9

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"What? No!" You opposed right away. "I was trying to become friends with Aether!" You said, blushing like crazy as you felt the dream leave your eyes right away. "I just... had to agree with her so that she would like me!"

"Yeah, right..." Ekko chuckled and left you alone after, though you still felt your ears being hot for long minutes. But, hey you weren't tired anymore. At least not mentally - your body still felt like you had been running for long hours, but you could handle that for a while, now that you could keep your eyes open.

You looked around carefully and saw that you were flying above the upper parts of Zaun. From there you could see the city running for long, long miles and there were parts that were so deep down under you, that you couldn't even see their bottom anymore; they were well hidden under the coat of shadows and the colored fog of the chemicals the factory chimneys and mines forever emitted.

You knew Zaun was big, but never imagined it to be this enormous. You wondered how many people was in need of help at that moment and how many of them would never get it...

"We are here..." Ekko said after a while. When you looked around you saw that you were at the farthest edge of the city, hovering above an abandoned building. It had a flat roof, covered in old, worn down metal plates, but from there you could see whole Zaun and, in the distance, was that... Piltover?

"I often come here to think." The boy said as he jumped off the device, under his feet the plates tinkled deeply when he arrived on them. You kept your eyes on the two cities, the sight completely taking away your breath as you wanted to follow him, but your body was so numb that you stumbled...

You felt yourself hurtle down towards the ground unstoppably and, having nothing to hold onto, you were sure you'd land on your face. You prepared yourself for the impact in advance, stiffening your limbs, when you felt something soft catching you.

Ekko got you just in time, hugging your torso to his as your hands leaned against his shoulders. His warmness and smell - green leaves, wood and oil - immediately stunned you and you felt your heartbeat pounding against your chest. You were sure that the boy could also hear it...

"Careful there..." he said softly as you pulled back to look at him. He was so close to you, that his breath brushed your cheeks and as your eyes locked into his brown ones, you felt your face warming up again. You saw his gaze linger on yours a little too long as well before you tore your eyes away and stepped a step back, brushing a strand behind your ears.

"Thank you..." you said, looking away in your embarrassment. "Sorry, I'm terribly clumsy."

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked, searching your face but you just smiled at him.

"I'm fine. I just usually get a little tired after using my powers." You waved with your hand as if your exhaustion was nothing. Your face still felt dangerously hot so you stepped at the edge of the roof and let your eyes pan the view in front of you.

Though you still couldn't deny it was Zaun, thanks to the puffs of smoke and dirt-covered buildings - from up there, seeing the whole thing in front of you, it felt completely different. You dared to say that even looked stunning...

"I like it here, because when you look at the two cities, they almost seem one..." You heard Ekko's voice as he stepped by your side. And he was right. Though the lights were warmer at Piltover and there wasn't any cloud of fog hugging its buildings, the two cities didn't seem that different at all.

At least from this far.

"Do you think it would ever be possible for Zaun and Piltover to unite?" you asked as you looked at Ekko. He closed his eyes as he shook his head, smiling bitterly and turned away from the edge of the roof to sit down a few steps away.

"I -I honestly don't know... Right now, it feels impossible." you followed him to sit down by his side and pulled your knees up to your chin to hug them tightly. "The view Piltover has over Zaun is too deeply rooted and until Silco is off the picture, I don't know how could we ever prove that not everyone's here is just some ragtags and scums. We are not so different from Piltover if it comes to our people, but I just don't know yet how could we ever possibly make them see that..."

You watched his face as he talked. Your heart sank a little when you saw his bitterness taking over his features under his furrowed brows. He was still so young, but sometimes his seriousness made him look much older than he really was.

You observed the details of his face for the first time since you'd met. You noticed the puckers around his nose that always appeared when he was upset, and the slight, dark circles around his eyes that indicated his tiredness. He had so much to carry on his shoulders, you thought as your eyes wandered to his lips. They were so thick, yet he pressed them together so hard now that his lower lip was almost just a line.

And yes, he was indeed handsome - though it was the first time you ever noticed it. And when his eyes jumped to your face, the way his features softened made your heartbeat fasten...

"What you did today was amazing..." Ekko said as his eyes locked into yours. "And I'm sure that you're going to give so many people some kind of a hope once they hear about you." he smiled and you felt that you were going to have a heart attack soon if he continued looking at you like that. "But I'm also worried because Silco goes after anything and anyone that gives people hope here..." he kept his eye on you as he talked and when he got to his last sentence he frowned again.

You didn't like him seeing upset.

"You don't have to worry." you said, maybe a little bit too confidently as you straightened your back. "If Silco comes after me then at least I won't have to go look for him..."

In the past few days, you had almost forgotten your desire to get your revenge. Ekko had showed you so many sides of Zaun in such a short period of time that it absolutely blew your mind. He even gave you some kind of a new purpose - apart from your second chance and a shelter...

You honestly wanted to help him and help Zaun - and you'd never wanted to go back to hiding. You understood completely why your family wanted to keep you a secret - now clearer than ever - but you didn't agree with them anymore. You couldn't just think about yourself and your safety... Not anymore.

Your eyes jumped to look at the two cities in front of you and your mind imagined all the parallel realities where they were one and where people didn't have to die, starve and hurt daily...

"Thank you, Ekko." you smiled at the boy by your side. "Thank you for showing this to me." you saw his surprise evincing on his face but after a few short seconds, he softly smiled back at you.  

//A/N: okay, wattpad decided I can't upload photos for my stories anymore t-t//

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