[System Alert: New Bond Available – Ahri]
[Location: ???]
The words pulsed softly in the corner of his vision as Cole moved through the empty streets of upper Piltover. Gone were the industrial hums of Zaun, the neon stabs of nightlife. Here, everything felt hushed—like the city was holding its breath.
He followed the silhouette.
Elegant. Familiar.
Tails like strands of moonlight, trailing behind her as she disappeared into a garden path framed by marble and ivy.
Cole hesitated at the edge.
A gated courtyard, secluded between two performance halls long shut for the season. Moonflowers bloomed in quiet defiance of the cold, and in the center—beneath a glass archway that glowed faintly—
Ahri.
She sat alone on a bench. Her head was bowed. The usual shimmer around her—fame, fire, mystique—was absent.
She looked… small.
Cole stepped through the gate, slow enough not to startle her.
"I didn't mean to intrude," he said quietly.
Ahri didn't lift her head. "You didn't."
A pause. Then she added, more to herself than him, "This place doesn't belong to anyone anymore."
Cole approached until he was just a few paces away. "I saw you," he said. "Back near the light towers. I wasn't sure if it was really you."
She gave a faint, breathless laugh. "Not sure I'm really me, either."
There was silence again, long and heavy.
Then she whispered, "Do you know what it's like to be adored by millions… and still feel invisible when it matters?"
Cole didn't answer right away.
"I think," he said slowly, "it's like performing a love song to a crowd that only hears the beat. The words just fall away."
Ahri turned to look at him. Her eyes were rimmed with unshed tears, barely held back by pride. She looked tired—not physically, but in the way someone gets when they've held too much for too long.
"That's exactly what it feels like," Ahri said quietly. "Like I've been singing my soul out in perfect harmony… but no one hears the message anymore."
Cole sat beside her on the cold stone bench—not close, but close enough.
"What happened?" he asked, voice soft.
She pressed her lips into a line. "Nothing. And I don't even know you."
"I'm Cole," he said. "A friend of Evelynn."
Her gaze swept over him, wary, but not unkind.
"I've heard about you."
Cole nodded. "I may not know you well... but I do know silence only makes the cracks worse."
Ahri let out a slow, defeated sigh.
"Yeah… I guess you're right. It just feels like everything's slipping through my fingers."
She didn't say Yasuo's name. She didn't need to. The ache in her voice did all the talking.
"I thought I could balance it all," she whispered. "The spotlight. K/DA. Him. Me. But it's unraveling. Like we're being rewritten—erased—from the inside."
Cole stayed quiet. He didn't have the answers. But he could give her his full attention—and for now, maybe that was enough.
"The lights still shine. The fans still scream. Onstage, we're stars." Her voice trembled. "But behind the curtain? We're ghosts. Evelynn's colder than ever. Kai'Sa's buried in the anomalies. Akali barely checks in anymore."
She swallowed hard.
"And me? I can't even hold my relationship together."
Her fingers gently grazed the petals beside her.
"He said I wasn't really there. That I'd stopped feeling anything. And... he was right."
She stared at the moonlit flowers, then shook her head.
"When he touched me… when he said all those sweet things… I felt like I wasn't even in the room. Just… watching it all happen to someone else."
There was a long pause before she continued.
"He chased me for years, you know? Wouldn't stop trying. I finally let my guard down. Let myself feel something. And at first…" she smiled faintly, painfully.
"It was everything. Wild, real, untouchable."
Cole's voice came quiet, thoughtful.
"I think the people who care the most tend to fall the hardest. There's this rush at the beginning—fire and light. But sometimes, it fades… and we're left with ash we don't know what to do with."
Ahri turned to him, brows drawn.
"So you're saying it's my fault?"
He shook his head gently.
"No. I'm saying you can't carry all the blame. Love doesn't fall apart because of one person."
"But—"
"But what? Did you push him away on purpose? Did you refuse to talk about it? Did he ever sit down and try to fix things with you?"
Their eyes met. Hers glistened.
"No," she said. "He just… left. Said I wasn't in it anymore. Then he walked away."
Cole's jaw clenched.
"Then that's on him. Relationships take work. You don't just bail when it gets hard."
'Maybe I don't know the full story,' he thought. 'But walking away from Ahri without even trying? That's something I'll never understand.'
She exhaled. "...I guess you're right. But what do I do now?"
"You let him go," Cole said. "Because clinging to something that's already broken only keeps the wounds open. The longer you replay it in your head, the more it'll twist into bitterness."
Ahri sat still. Tears slipped down her cheeks, slow and silent.
'She's exhausted from always being the strong one,' Cole realized. 'With the others drowning in their own battles, there's no one left to lean on. She doesn't need someone to fix everything—she just needs someone to stay.'
Without overthinking, he reached out and wrapped her in a hug—steady, grounding. His arms shielded her from the cold night air, and maybe from the weight of her own thoughts.
"I'm here," he murmured.
She rested against his chest.
"Thanks."
Cole held her a little tighter.
"I see you, Ahri. Not just the idol on stage. You—the real you. And I think all of K/DA is made of incredible people, even when the world doesn't see it."
She looked up at him, eyes misted but curious.
"You really think that?"
"I do," he said simply. "And that's why I can't just sit back and watch everything fall apart."
She blinked. For a long moment, she didn't speak.
Then she reached up and wiped her eyes—not ashamed, just finished.
"You're not what I expected," she said. "Eve told me you were interesting. Kai'Sa said you weren't completely useless. That's high praise coming from her."
Cole gave a faint smile. "I'll try to live up to the hype."
Ahri exhaled slowly. "What do you want from us?"
"Not fame. Not glory," he said. "Just… to be part of the act. The real one. The one behind the scenes. Where things break before they shine. To stop the coming storm."
[Passive Obtained: Emotional Resonance – Improves bond-building when supporting emotionally vulnerable members]
Ahri looked down at her hands.
She glanced up at him. A faint smile played at her lips—not bright, not flirty. Just real.
"You're not walking out of this clean, you know," she said. "K/DA isn't a dream anymore. It's a warzone dressed in rhinestones."
Cole nodded. "Then I'll dress accordingly." A smirk decorating his face
She rose beside him. The moonlight caught in her hair, but her shadow stretched longer than before.
"Come by the studio tomorrow," she said. "We'll see if the others agree to keep you."
He paused. "And you?"
Her smile deepened—tired but certain.
"I already did."
[Relationship Bond Strengthened: Ahri – Guard Lowered]
[+300 SP Gained]
____________________________________
They left the garden together in silence.
But it wasn't the kind of silence that hurt.
It was the kind that healed.
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Author's note: Hi guys! If you enjoyed the please review and vote if you can ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ