ACT 27

Walking through the halls of the Institute and heading to the mess hall, the looks the Frost Archer and the Sinister Blade received were disregarded. Ashe now wore her usual garbs, navy blue dress, cape, cowl, her original outfit donned beautifully by hers truly, while the Avarosan bow strapped beside her quiver of frost arrows emitted its cool vapor behind her.

As they walked, the two females didn't have to think much to know what all of the onlookers were thinking as they passed them. Their hands were not at all intertwined with one another, but the two of them walked closely with one another, which somehow further confirms the word that seemed to have already spread. Ashe remained composed, regardless of all the attention, but Katarina couldn't seem to stop a scowl form appearing on her face as the people they passed gave them scrutinizing looks.

"Pay no attention to their stares." Ashe told the redhead, offering a little smile of encouragement. "I'm quite sure you had already expected this sort of attention."

"I did," The assassin muttered. "But it's still irritating."

"Would you like us to return to your quarters after our meal?"

"No, it's fine." She said, shaking her head in declination. "I don't want to coop you up in one place."

Ashe lightly bumped one of her hands with Katarina's right, which dangled beside her. "I don't mind, as long as it puts your mind at ease."

Katarina looked at Ashe in the corner of her eyes, presenting a small curve. "I hate to admit it, but I think my blondie of a sister had a point."

"What do you mean?"

"You baby me too much." Katarina straightened her posture and put on an expression that she intended to look serious, but Ashe saw through it without even trying. "I'm a grown woman, Ashe. I can take care of myself."

"Are you attempting to convince me or yourself?" She asked with humor lacing her words.

"If you're expecting me to admit out loud that I actually like being babied, then prepare to be disappointed."

Ashe smiled and wound an arm around one of Katarina's, lightly holding the limb against her torso. She leaned her head on the leather-clad shoulder of her Noxian, and she can tell, the 'spectators' they have all around them seem to be a bit taken aback with the affectionate gesture.

"It looks like I don't need a child, after all."

Katarina's eyebrows knitted in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

She smiled. "I have my baby right here."

"Oh hell no, Ashe." Katarina groaned quietly. "I am not a baby."

"You are to me."

Katarina resisted another groan, rubbing her face with one hand out of mild stress. Ashe isn't really one for teasing and such, but when it comes to Katarina, even though she's trying to do just that, she ends up just coddling Katarina to the point where the once heartless assassin becomes flustered.

The grumpy expression on the redhead's face didn't disappear, but its level did decrease a bit. The color in those cheeks proved that Ashe's words still affected her, and to be honest, Ashe felt quite proud of herself with that reaction.

"People are looking." Katarina murmured once they entered the dining hall. True to her word, when Ashe took a few glances around them, she found literally everyone in the wide room, champion and summoner, either staring blatantly at them or sparing glances they tried concealing as much as they can. She tightened her hold around Katarina's arm when she felt the Noxian made a motion in pulling it away.

"Don't." She said, securing her clutch on the limb.

"Ashe, they're staring."

She lifted her head up and met Katarina's gaze, their walk slowing down significantly. "Do you want me to pull away? Maybe… let you go?"

Is Katarina coming to a realization?

Could she actually be ashamed in being seen with her?

She feared the possible answers to those questions.

Ashe didn't wait for Katarina's response to it though. She released the assassin's arm before proceeding towards the buffet area, not bothering in looking, or glancing, over her shoulder to see if Katarina followed.

Her insecurity is still fresh in her mind, so she couldn't help but feel a bit sensitive with the fact that Katarina may not want her as much as she wants the Noxian. Maybe this is just her paranoia, or maybe it's not, she isn't really certain what to call it. The twinge in her chest dampened her frame of mind. Thinking back to the surprise she has for Katarina, which is hidden inside of her quiver, it intensified the feeling in her chest.

She reached behind her and pulled her cowl over her head, concealing the majority of her hair and face. When she was a child, whenever she felt disheartened, she resorted in hiding herself under a cover, specifically a blanket. Honestly, each time she looks back to those downhearted moments of hers, she felt rather foolish, maybe even looked foolish. She always thought that maybe that's why she walked around in the Fields of Justice always cloaked with her signature cape and cowl.

It's her lifeless haven.

Her hand reached out for a plate when she arrived at the buffet. It was only a few inches away from the small stack of white dishes, when another hand, this one covered with a fingerless leather glove, intercepted it and took it captive in its grasp.

"Ashe," Katarina spoke softly, quietly, apologetically, grief-stricken emeralds gazing at her hooded self. "I felt it."

"…" She kept her silence, not uttering anything or even looking up to make eye contact.

"The heartache…" Katarina enveloped her hand with both of hers. "Your heartache… I felt it."

"I… I don't…" Closing her eyes, she took a breath before opening them and pulling her hand away from Katarina's warm hold. "I'm fine."

"You don't lie very well."

She raised her head, and with difficulty, looked into the eyes of the woman she dearly loves. "If you already know the truth, then why ask?"

"Who knows…" Katarina let out a breath. "Who knows how many times I've hurt you like this?"

"Do not worry yourself about the past. What's done is done."

"Ashe…" Katarina reached forward and took hold of her elbow, not wanting to let go. "I want to talk to you. To know you. To know what you like and what you don't."

"What brought this up now?" Regardless of being hurt earlier, Ashe pushed it aside and stepped towards Katarina, holding the redhead's arms.

"Even before we were both bonded to each other, you had always known what I felt. Even before we came to terms with our feelings, you always knew what to say and what to do. I… I feel so selfish, Ashe. I feel like shit."

Sighing, she pulled Katarina to a nearby vacant table, the two of them sitting down on the same bench connected to it.

"I never loved." Katarina said to her, eyes downcast. "Hell, I don't even know how to show you how I feel without resorting to sex."

"I was just… hurt when you wanted me to let go." Ashe confessed, now feeling a bit imprudent with her reasoning. "It was… petty. Maybe I reacted too foolishly."

"No," Katarina immediately said. "You didn't, trust me. I felt what you had felt."

"Still…"

"I only wanted you to let go for your own sake." Katarina admitted. "I don't want the people here to think of… things about you."

She reached forward and when she took Katarina's hands into hers, the Noxian finally raised her head and looked in her eyes. "I do not give a damn about what they think of me or of my relationship with you."

Katarina stared, somewhat in a surprised trance, especially when she heard a curse come from the Queen herself.

"I want nothing more but to show them that I belong to you as much as I love you." She lifted Katarina's hands up and kissed her knuckles. "Hopefully, you think of the same, because when I proposed to you, my heart went along with the ring you're wearing."

To emphasize her point, she brushed her thumb over the leather covering the frost accessory around Katarina's left ring finger. For a while, she was staring at the redhead's hands. But, it soon left her line of vision when Katarina pulled it out of her grasp and cupped her face.

"I won't break it." Katarina whispered. "I intend to protect it, to treasure it, to feed it with the love it deserves. Don't doubt my love for you. When I chose Noxus over you from the first time you had asked, I realized in the end that I was the stupidest person that has ever existed. It's the main reason why I developed a fear of mine."

"Your fear…?"

Katarina nodded, one hand trailing down and landing over one of Ashe's hands. "I'm afraid that, maybe one day, you'll come to a realization that I'm actually not worth the sacrifices you've made."

"Don't say that." She said, internally horrified that Katarina would actually think of such a thing.

"I don't know how to love you the way you love me, but here I am, willing to make a fool out of myself just for you to not look at someone…-"

She has heard enough. Ashe interrupted her beloved's sentence by grabbing the front of her signature leather jacket and pulling her in for a deep kiss, a kiss so intense that Katarina only realized that it was happening after a couple of blinks.

Ashe leaned forward more, deepening the kiss in a much more passionate level. Katarina's right hand held the edge of the table to prevent herself from falling backwards completely, while her left hand pushed Ashe's cowl back and clenched a fistful of the once-concealed tresses.

"As…-" Katarina couldn't even finish her name when she had given them both a second's worth of break before resuming the kiss. Most of their fellow champions and acquainted summoners around them looked away, either feeling uncomfortable or wanting to give them a bit of privacy, the two of them didn't really take the time to know which.

Softly gasping, Ashe broke away and sat back to her seat, steadying her breath. She couldn't instantly look at her darling though, knowing Katarina was eyeing her with a surprised gleam in her green eyes.

"I'm just…" She cleared her throat and turned away to get up and leave. "I'm going to get us something to eat."

"…Alright." Came Katarina's slightly breathless reply.

Standing up, she made her way back to the buffet, passing a certain Ionian fox that had an eyebrow quirked and a coy smile on her face. Somehow, she found herself feeling a little embarrassed, knowing Ahri might not be the only one who wore that expression.

xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx

Breathing pace finally stable, Katarina momentarily watched Ashe walk away before turning to the table and running a hand through her hair. After doing so, she licked her lips unconsciously, tasting her lover in her tongue. She buried half of her face in her palm, thinking about what had just happened between her and Ashe.

When Ashe was hurt because of her attempt in pulling her arm away to avoid any nasty talks, she had actually felt a pang in her chest. She had felt the sorrow that had developed within Ashe's own heart, and truthfully, she was thankful that she had felt it.

If she hadn't, would the conversation they just had turned out differently? Would she have realized how much it had affected Ashe?

Feeling someone's stare directed towards her, she took her face from her hand and looked around to find whoever it is looking at her. Surprisingly, her eyes found themselves looking into a pair of dark blue eyes that stared at her intimidatingly.

Sejuani, the Winter's Wrath.

She straightened up and met the cold gaze with an equally harsh look, bearing no intention in backing down from the Freljordian champion two tables away from her. The stare-down lasted long, only ending when Sejuani's eyes flickered to Katarina's left. When it did, Sejuani clenched her fists and stood up from her seat, turning away and walking towards the exit of the mess hall.

Katarina turned to her left, the same direction where Sejuani's gaze had strayed to for a second, finding Ashe, who held two plates fairly filled with food from the buffet the Institute chefs had cooked.

"Does Sejuani hate you to the point where she wants to kill you?" She asked casually, while her lover sat beside her.

"What happened?" Ashe asked back, immediately knowing that something had transpired when she was gone.

"Long story short, Sejuani and I went head to head with a long stare-down." She propped her elbow on the table and leaned her head on her hand. "I won when you came."

Ashe wore a confused face to which she just shrugged in return, accepting the plate and silverware the archer offered to her. While Ashe had a vegetable salad, Katarina found herself served with a meat salad. Even if she hadn't said anything about her taste for food, Ashe clearly took notice of how much she enjoyed the meat in Freljord.

While eating, she couldn't help but think about Sejuani. The facial expression of the boar rider, the gleam in those vicious sapphires, they weren't just out of pure hatred. She couldn't place it, but she does know that the emotion that was showed seemed to be rather similar to a familiar feeling.

"Katarina?"

She snapped her gaze to her left, where she found Ashe looking at her with mild curiosity. "Hm?"

"Is there something troubling you?"

"Not really," She said, stabbing her fork in one of the pieces of meat. "It's not important, to be honest."

"Then," Ashe placed her own fork down and took her quiver off, placing said item and her ice bow on the vacant space the table possessed. "I take that this may be the right time to show you my surprise?"

"Surprise?"

Ashe reached inside of her quiver and pulled out the same papers she had received yesterday from the Barbarian King. She untied the simple knot of the rolled papers and unrolled them, presenting them to Katarina once all of its words were on display.

"I want you to read all of this."

Katarina took the papers and began to skim her eyes over each word, carefully making sure she understands whatever it is that's written on the manuscript. A minute or two later, her eyes were now wide as she looked at Ashe and Tryndamere's signatures below the last page of the paper. Seeing that she had finally finished reading everything, Ashe smiled and spoke up.

"I'm not married to him anymore."

"You… You're…" She couldn't complete her sentence. It felt as if her brain had forgotten how to do such feat.

Ashe extended her hand out and placed it on her shoulder. "All of me is now yours, Katarina."

She took her gaze away from the papers and looked towards Ashe, and she was greeted with a smile that made her heart thump wildly in her chest.

"We can finally marry, officially."

She blinked.

…..

Ashe closed her eyes as soon as Katarina leaned in and kissed her, clasping a hand behind her neck. The kiss was short, for Katarina's lips moved on from the soft lips to Ashe's ear, lips teasing the earlobe it made contact with.

"I better look for a ring, then." She whispered with a smirk-like smile, while Ashe chuckled back.

"I'll be waiting for it."

She pulled back, but enough to leave an arm's worth of space between them both. "I don't really know what tops a ring made out of ice though."

Ashe chuckled again and shook her head lightly. "Just a simple band will do. As long as it comes from you, I don't mind what it's made of."

Katarina was just about to say something, when something inside of Ashe's quiver glowed. She halted the words she intended to vocalize and decided to focus her gaze on the dim light emitting from inside the quiver. Ashe noticed that her attention was redirected, which prompted the archer to follow her gaze to where it's presently focused.

"What's inside of your quiver?"

The Freljordian took her quiver and reached inside, pulling out an awfully familiar crystal. Last night, only half of it was covered with the blue vine-patterned color, but now, most of the crystal was covered with the mentioned color and outline.

"What the hell happened to it?" She queried, recalling the image of the crystal possessing a pristine appearance.

"I honestly don't know." Ashe stated. "When I had touched it when you left for the discussion of the truce, it weakened me, but the feeling didn't really last. I was back to my full-strength within a short span of time."

"And those little lines just appeared out of nowhere?"

Ashe nodded, not really knowing what else to say.

She stared at the gemstone for a moment, taking notice of a certain change. The crystal looks to have increased its size. When it was first given to them, they could still nearly wrap their whole hand around it, but now, holding it in that manner isn't possible.

"Is it just me, or did it get bigger?" She asked, voicing out her thoughts.

"It did, overnight, I assume." Ashe agreed. "When we woke up this morning, its proportion had augmented."

"Huh," Was the only thing she said as she viewed the crystal's exterior look. "I knew I was right about it being nourished by sex."

Ashe shot her a look. "Seriously, Katarina?"

"What? It's true, isn't it?"

"Do you want to hold it?"

"Why would I?" She asked in return. "Not that I don't like it or anything like that, but, you know what I mean."

Ashe smiled and offered it for her to take, or at least touch. She only stared at it briefly before reaching out and taking the extraordinary stone from Ashe grasp. Due to her type of gloves, which covered not her fingers, her skin made contact with the cool surface of the crystal, and just like that…

Katarina let out an audible gasp as a large amount of energy was sapped out of her, the mentioned vim going nowhere but into the crystal she has in hand. Her head swam and she felt like she was going to either face-plant on the table or fall back and off her seat.

Before she could do any of those two, a jolt of energy shot through her whole body and practically electrified her back to her energized self. In fact, she felt like sudden fill of vigor is larger than the one taken from her.

"Katarina?" Ashe worriedly called her name, hand perching over the back of her shoulder.

She shook her head and waved the worry off. "I'm fine, don't worry. Just felt… a bit dizzy, that's all."

"Maybe we should visit the Infirmary later."

"No, no, that's not really necessary. Besides," Katarina looked down to the gem she has in hand, which has significantly increased its size. "I think the crystal got bigger. Again."

Ashe looked away from her and audited the stone's appearance, also noticing the visible difference. Not only that, but the crystal now had an appearance where blue and red crack-like patterns decorating its external visage.

The blue would glow, and after that, the red, and then both of them at the same time. The process would repeat over and over again, which actually crept Katarina out a bit.

"Here." She handed it back to the archer, who accepted it in her delicate hands.

"It's beautiful." Ashe uttered in awe, eyes gleaming with admiration towards the gemstone she has in her palms.

Katarina just gazed at Ashe. Instead of admiring the same matter her beloved seems to be intrigued with, she just stared and watched contently at the sight before her.

"Is that…"

Their heads whipped towards the direction where the speaker's voice had originated, blue crystals and green orbs landing on the Enlightened One standing across the table, eyes seemingly focused on the one of a kind jewel Ashe has in hand.

"…a covenant?" Karma asked, eyes lingering on the described crystal before trailing up and making eye contact with the Freljordian Queen. "Yours and the Sinister Blades soul, they have been bonded?"

"Yes, they have." Ashe answered politely. Despite being looking unaffected with the query, Ashe still seems to be as curious as how skeptical Katarina currently felt. "Is there something you desire to discuss with us?"

Karma was quiet for a moment before she shook her head. "Forget that I had said anything. My apologies for the disturbance."

Katarina observed Karma for a fair amount of time as the Ionian walked away from their table. The whole 'conversation', if one could actually call it that, screamed the word 'unusual', which is why she couldn't just brush it off.

"Katarina,"

Taking all of her focus away from the retreating mage, she directed all of it to the Frost Archer, who had called for her attention in the first place.

"What is it?"

"Do you think we'll be fine from this point?" Ashe asked her, looking a little anxious as she fiddled with the crystal with one hand. "We still have a handful of matters to handle, problems that remains to be solved, nations to watch over, responsibilities to prioritize… You'll be by my side, yes? To cope with all of this?"

The fear and anxiety showing in her beloved's eyes, Katarina instantly knew that this is one of the moments that she needs to be the one who steps up and offer the reassurance.

Wrapping an arm around Ashe's shoulders, she pulled the said royal in her arms and nestled most of her face in a sea of white. Her hand would lazily trail up and down over Ashe's left arm in a soothing manner, calming her lover's troubled self.

"I won't leave you, Ashe. I swear to you that I will stay by your side until my last breath leaves my lips, believe me."

"I have always believed you, trusted you…" Ashe smiled and nuzzled her head against her neck. "I love you."

Katarina closed her eyes and held Ashe tighter against her. "I love you, Ashe. Thank you."

Ashe pulled her head away for a bit and looked up to her. "What for?"

"What else?" She leaned in and rubbed the tip of her nose against Ashe's own. "For my happy ending. For our happy ending."

"I wouldn't call it an ending yet."

"Why?"

"Because," Ashe placed the crystal on her palm before covering it with her own hand. "We still have our whole life ahead of us, and I intend to spend it with you 'till the day Avarosa takes me."

…..

"That's going to be a problem. For Avarosa, I mean."

Ashe's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "How so?

She smirked as she wound both of her arms around her beloved's waist, grazing her lips against a cheek.

"I don't have any intention in letting anyone take you away from me."

The two of them shared a smile with one another, the feeling of contentment swirling within them as they gazed at each other adoringly.

Finally, after countless problems they encountered and eliminated, doubts they once had and now finally vanquished, the two of them can settle down in peace in each other's arms.

What more could they ask for?

...

...

...

...

...

At the main archway of the dining hall, the Winter's Wrath stood, eyeing a certain pair with lividity and resentment. Gauntleted hands clenched and eyes narrowed with ire, seething an aura of anger and teeth gritting every other second.

"What attribute does that Noxian vermin possess that I do not?"

The question Sejuani asked herself remained unanswered. Maybe soon she will receive a response from the Queen of Freljord herself.

Soon.

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Author's Note: Umm, yeah, this is actually the ending of this story. 😂 I am soooo sorry if the ending sucked! I was actually suffering some writer's block here and there when I was in the middle of typing this, so I get it if you readers were disappointed with it. 😣

On the other hand, obviously, there's going to be a sequel. Watch out for it. 😃

Still not sure when I'll release it though, since I want to release a Vi x Caitlyn or a Leona x Diana story. 😁

*whispers* I already have two chapters of the Vi x Caitlyn and the summary of the Leona x Diana story. Just sayin'. 😝

Anyway! 😂

Expect in the sequel a somewhat twisted (?) (Is that the right word?) love triangle involving our two protagonists and a certain champion, which I'm already sure you all know who. Not only that, but I intend to have the sequel mostly center around Ashe's problems involving Freljord and matters related to it and her kingdom. Lissandra and Sejuani are, after all, still after the throne.

Also, maybe an additional side of Demacia-Noxus conflict, 'coz Jarvan is obviously not finished with the Frozen Lotus pair. Ionians may even be involved, but I don't know, still thinking about it. Irelia and Karma can't really get away with the murder of the Demacian Councilor, right? Who knows, maybe they can, it depends, I guess.

Any loose ends I may have forgotten you readers want to be tied? Comment it or message me. Don't worry, I'm a friendly person. 😄😊

Every reader of mine, thank you for all the support you have shown and given! Your reviews? They totally motivated me and helped me in finishing this story for all of you. I seriously love you all! 😘❤️💙

Hopefully, I see all of you (or most of you, at least :3) in my other stories and, of course, the sequel of this specific story. ️😀

Now that I've finished this story, I'll now be fully focusing on "League of Legends: One Shots" and "You Don't Own Me", which is an AU Frozen Lotus story. If any of you are interested, feel free to check it out. 😁

Until next time, readers! 😚😘👋