THE WORLD BELOW (VixCaitlyn) / a dive into season two

Shards

Caitlyn stepped out of her mother's bathroom, patting her dark hair down with a towel. Cassandra Kiramman was laying in bed, surrounded by a sheer forest of flowers, gifts and cards, most unopened.

"Still avoiding that bathroom, Caitlyn?" she spoke with audible worry.

Her daughter walked over to the bed and sat down with no reply. She let her thoughts wander as she marvelled at the offerings around her, trying to repress the memories that were rattling at the gates of her consciousness, waiting for a moment of weakness. Caitlyn wanted to tell her mother how every day when she looked into the mirror she saw Jinx again, how she couldn't ever feel safe again, no matter how many locks were installed and how many guards were posted, but she didn't dare speak those words out loud.

"You could go to the summer house if you prefer." Cassandra said soothingly. She reached out to her daughter and placed a hand on her thigh, trying to read through her unchanged expression.

"What good will it be?" Caitlyn thought "She will find me. She will find me anywhere I go."

Looking down at her mother she felt an urge to just fall into her arms and cry, like she had done, albeit rarely, as a child. But she couldn't, not now that she was needed so desperately.

"I wouldn't leave you for the world." Caitlyn said with a quiver. She forced herself to look down at her mother, her back supported by a sheer abundance of pillows in an attempt to give her some dignity back. Cassandra's face still had the same noble, elevated expression to it, the stern look that rarely softened even within the privacy of her own home. But beneath the covers she was forever changed, her once tall and gracious body coming to an abrupt end just below her waist, her right arm severed at the elbow like the branch of an overcharged fruit tree. Even though her mother was presenting herself with the same regal air of majesty, Caitlyn could see she was dying inside. 'Maybe', she thought for a short, agonizing moment, 'maybe she wishes she had died that night, with the others'.

She felt her heart being gripped by the cold hand of fear once again. Everything had changed.

And it would never go back.

"I am glad you came. I needed to speak with you." Her mother's voice pulled Caitlyn back into reality.

"We are holding a conference today to discuss our proposal for peace with the Nation of Zaun. I was hoping you would join me to... well... assist."

Caitlyn was shook. "Me?" she said with a panicked look "Why me?"

"Caitlyn. You are a Kiramman." Cassandra spoke softly, but with urgency "Now, more than ever, we cannot present ourselves as fragile, or worse, scared. We need to portray that the attack hasn't weakened us."

"But it has..." Caitlyn felt tears swelling in her eyes.

"Piltover will recover, I am sure of it. Until then, we have to make up in will what we have lost in power. You have to be strong, Caitlyn. You may not want to face it but soon I might not be here to guide you..." Cassandra looked deeply into her daughter's eyes, immense wisdom and strength seeping from her words "I couldn't bear to think I would leave you unprepared. It has to be you. Your father is... well... different."

"But you will recover, too. You are strong." Caitlyn protested.

"However strong I may be, I won't be here forever." her mother insisted.

Caitlyn looked up to the ceiling, trying to fight off her unwelcome emotions. Deep down, she had known what was expected of her since she was a child, but she never had found the courage to face it. Drowning in self-doubt, she pictured the future of Piltover like shards of glass in her hands, cutting into her fingers as she desperately tried to put together what would never be whole again.

"My deepest regret," Cassandra said with a sigh "Is not being able to give you the world that I have dreamed of passing on to you since the day you were born. That was my one true calling, and I have failed you."

"I don't blame you... You did what you thought was right and I would have done the same." Caitlyn replied, reaching for her mother's hand in a soothing gesture "I will come, today. To the conference."

For the first time, Cassandra's face softened into a subtle smile.

"I'm proud of you, Caitlyn." she said, carefully picking the words that she had held on to for so long "I am proud to see you grow into a better person than I ever was. You will do great things, I am sure."

A lonely tear escaped the corner of her eye as she spoke. Timidly. Never to be mentioned.