too young to know it gets better

how it all ends

"Lily and I paid her a visit at the new World Wide News Headquarters."

"And I've been so excited because I've been trying to get this reservation. Can you hold on for just one second? What the hell are you doing?"

Anya laughs, relaxing back against the couch and fiddling with her fingers as she watches the show. It's oddly intriguing.

"Hey," she looks over at Yelena, heart sinking a little bit at the solemn expression on the blonde's face.

Anya waves, words sitting on the tip of her tongue for the first time in what feels like years. She did speak to the barista last week before she was rescued, but that feels like a lifetime ago. So much has changed since then.

"How do you like Wanda and Nat?" Yelena asks, looking at her uneasily. Anya's not sure where this is going.

They're good, she signs, Natasha taught me UNO today. She won.

"Mm," Yelena laughs softly, "You like them?"

Anya nods.

"Remember how I told you when I met you that I was there to help you?" Yelena asks quietly, looking at her with such sincerity and concern that it sets off alarm bells.

She nods along regardless, not wanting to set Yelena off, too.

"I've been working it out for a couple of days, and... I've learned that sometimes you have to make selfish decisions, and I have to make a selfish decision," Yelena pauses, "I can't keep helping you. It's..." Yelena trails off, obviously trying to think, "It's not good for you or for me. But Natasha and Wanda want to take you in."

Yelena smiles softly (and it seems a little sad, too, almost as if Yelena's going to miss her despite saying she's getting rid of her), "I'm still gonna be around. I just can't be your primary caretaker, do you understand that?"

Anya nods, pit in her stomach. Yelena's going to leave her? She likes Natasha and Wanda, sure, but Yelena brought her here.

"They're gonna keep you safe," Yelena says, and it sounds like she's trying to convince herself more than Anya, "and they're going to put you in school, you're gonna make friends and if you eevr need to complain about them, I'm only a couple of blocks away. Or if you just want to get something to eat, I'm there."

You promise? Anya signs slowly, just needing to hear the confirmation. She's not being abandoned.

"I promise," Yelena swears softly, "Can I hug you?"

Anya nods, feeling almost overwhelmingly warm when Yelena hugs her tightly, making sure to hug her back twice as much. She doesn't know how long it's been since she's been hugged. She didn't think it'd be as nice as it is, maybe it's because this is the woman that saved her from the hell she's been living in for almost ten years.

So it's pretty easy to whisper a quiet "Thank you."

And Yelena only hugs her tighter.

-

A month later finds Yelena back at Natasha and Wanda's apartment (well, also Anya's now) for Wanda's birthday.

They offered to celebrate Yelena's too with the discovery of them sharing a birthday, but Yelena decided to stick with her April 9th birthday. She likes having a day to herself and it just works out nicer. Well, at least, that's just how she explained it to Natasha. Truly, she doesn't know what she wants for her birthday and she doesn't want to have to think about it yet.

It's been a long month since everything happened. Anya's grown more comfortable with talking - so comfortable in fact that Yelena's figured out that she's very similar to Kate with long rambling monologues and the ability to get excited over anything. It's endearing.